


I've been dreaming of a white Christmas

by ironicallyinternational



Series: magnus and alec, chronicled [1]
Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: AU, Alec makes some spontaneous decisions, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Some angst, The Lightwoods suck, which are not all that bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-03-19 02:53:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3593649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironicallyinternational/pseuds/ironicallyinternational
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh, my God. Are you even for real? You're a Lightwood?”</p><p>Then, catching himself: “I should have known by the cheekbones...”</p><p>“You're lucky you're cute, Alexander!” was his greeting as he turned sharply and started wandering off.</p><p>Alec, shocked, only regained his speech in time to shout at him: “Hey- I didn't even catch your name!”</p><p>“Look me up! I'm not hard to find!”</p><p>And with that he disappeared from view.</p><p>Alec, staring at his phone, wondered what the hell he'd gotten himself into."</p><p>----------------</p><p>Alec is sick and tired of Christmas at home, surrounded by people who hate each other and by his two golden siblings.<br/>And then he kind of gets into a fight with Isabelle, and kind of arranges with a total stranger to go with him to the Lightwood Christmas Dinner. And the stranger kind of ends up being Magnus Bane, whom his family kind of hate.<br/>And they kind of develop the most embarrassing crush on each other.<br/>Kind of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. an introduction of sorts

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is hopelessly self-indulgent, but will probably be slow on the updates unless there's some kind of motivation.  
> Side-note: I apologize if you feel like Izzy and Jace are being treated unfairly, but frankly I'm still irked that Alec never got to complain about their shitty treatment of him, especially concering Jace.  
> Anyway, this is just a generally horridly cliché AU, but enjoy nonetheless.

–--------------

Alec hates Christmas.

Hates the way his family sits together, stiff and awkward, falsely genuine smiles exchanged. 

Hates the presents he gets, always some kind of sports gear (they know he hates team sports, they know) or clothes (the kind he'll never wear, and gives to Isabelle's current boy-toy the next day anyway). 

He hates the presents he gives, too- he's long stopped trying to give sentimental gifts. Gift vouchers are usually a hit. 

Hates the questions all his older relatives ask, tone lightly patronizing, about so when are we meeting your girlfriend or even and how are your studies doing, followed by the disinterested oh, really that only ever means whatever, let's hear more about Jace. 

Hates when Jace shows up late, accompanied by his newest girlfriend, and everyone immediately turns towards him, the golden boy. Hates his laughing stories about his college feats that make all the men give jovial bursts of laughter and all the women titter in an ah, men kind of way. 

Hates the way he always thinks do you even realize how much you all hate each other as they pose for the picture. 

Hates his own perfect poker-face and exquisite manners, and the way all his effort still isn't enough. 

Hates the look his mother gives him, sharp and knowing, when he leaves early. Hates Max's disappointed look. Hates that Jace and Isabelle don't even look up, too busy laughing together. 

Hates the posters inside the train station, perfect laughing families all with the one grandparent, one dad, one mom, two point five kids and a dog. 

Hates the way he sits curled up in bed, gritting his teeth and glaring at the broken pieces of whatever unfortunate gift lies nearest to him.

Hates the way he always always always ends up alone.

This year hardly promised to be any different.

–--------

“Yes, Izzy, of course I'll be there, I don't-” Alec tried. 

The date was the 20th of December. 

He was currently on the phone with his sister, grocery bags in hand and phone pressed between his shoulder and his ear as he fumbled for the key to his flat. He'd tried obtaining a smaller flat, honestly he had, but his parents had paid an exorbitant amount, as per usual, so he'd ended up with the biggest one on campus. 

Thank God he'd at least avoided living at home and driving to university. 

He managed to open the door, stumbling inside and waving vaguely at his roommate as his sister continued blabbing on the phone. “....So obviously we'll be going somewhere else then.” 

Putting the bags down, he paused: “Wait, we're not going to Starbucks?” 

“No, Alec! I just told you- I broke up with Mario and he works there! We'll go to Cafe Musain, ok?”

“Are you insane? Cafe Musain is like an hour away from my place!”  
“Alec, Alec, Alec...The barista there is cute, and I need a new date for the Christmas party now that Mario's off the books.” 

When those words left her lips, he knew he was doomed. 

Isabelle cut off a couple of minutes later, having told him in detail about Jace's newest conquest and her IQ of about minus fifty. 

“See you later, bro bro!”

“Everything OK?” Simon asked, tone sympathetic as Alec stared in dismay at the phone.

“My sister again. We're supposed to be meeting at the bloody Cafe Musain in two hours.” 

“Oh, hey, that's where Clary works! I can go with you, if you want?”

Alec considered him for a moment. Simon was probably the most unlikely roommate for someone like him, ever. Friendly, genuinely nice, smart and actually funny, Simon was every mother's ideal son- not to mention his killer sarcasm, which had won Alec over from the start. 

Funnily enough, they'd actually gotten along well from the first time they'd met- now that was a good story...

“What're you laughing at?”

“Just remembered the first time we met...” Alec let out, amused. 

Simon laughed. “Oh, my god! You mean when that guy was hitting on that girl and he said “hey baby did you fall from heaven” and we both said “because so did Satan” at the same time?” 

“No, Simon, I meant the other first time we met.” Alec said, raising a brow judgementally.

“Ah, shut up, it was hilarious. I knew then we were destined to be bee eff effsies for life.” Simon chuckled, pushing his dorky hipster glasses back up. 

Alec bit his lip to hide his fond grin. “All right, dipstick. You can come along.” 

–-----------


	2. a meeting of sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Simon and Clary are introduced to the Lightwoods, Alec makes a regrettable statement, and later meets someone rather important to the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens and everything is not under control.  
> Alec making reckless decisions usually turns out quite well, suprisingly.  
> (also Isabelle gets it handed to her)

The train was full as usual, and it was raining by the time they got to the Cafe.   
“Hey, Alec, look- the weather turned emo for you. Wanna upload it to your tumblr?” Simon grinned.

“Oh, what's that? I didn't hear you over the sound of “I only came here to see the girl who friend-zoned me” blocking my ears.” Alec retorted swiftly, pointedly ignoring the comment about his prefectly amazing tumblr. 

“Low blow, man, low br-oooooh.” Simon's voice drifted away. Alec frowned, following his gaze, then groaned as he saw what had made him trail off. 

“ISABELLE! Stop seducing random customers and come here!”

Simon's face, in that moment, looked rather a lot like the time Jace got run over by a car. 

–----------

“Th-that's your sister?!”

“Hi, yes, I'm Alec's sister, and you are?”

Isabelle Lightwood, dark hair hanging loosely and perfectly made up eyes appreciative, smirked as Simon tried to formulate a proper sentence. 

Alec grabbed them both and sat them down by a table before sitting down himself and burying his face in his arms. “Tell me when it's over.” 

“I-uh...Sorry! You're just- I mean-” Simon managed, blushing scarlet as Isabelle grinned. “I should have guessed, cause like, Alec's pretty good looking, so you- Wait, I didn't- uh-” It was Alec's turn to stare, ears reddening slightly before he changed his stare into an unimpressed glare. “Simon, do us all a favour and shut up.”

“So you're called Simon?” Isabelle asked, grin having turned positively feral. 

“I-OH, HEY CLARY!” Simon's cheerful shouting sounded a tad desperate.

Brows raised, a red-head turned towards them, pausing when she caught sight of Simon.   
“I apologize for whatever he's done.” 

Alec decided he liked Clary Fray.

–-------

Luckily, after her arrival, Simon regained most of his wits (although he did choke on his coffee when Isabelle started playing footsie with him), and conversation flowed quite smoothly. “I've heard a lot about you, Alec Lightwood!” had been Clary's greeting as she shook his hand firmly. And then, whistling: “He wasn't lying about the cheekbones, huh...” 

Alec had flushed and ducked his head before resuming his usual pout. He knew he was handsome- he was a Lightwood by blood, after all, if nothing else- but years of being over-shadowed by his sister and Jace had rendered him unused to compliments. 

Clary was a welcome addition due to her realism. Like Simon, her words carried no hidden meaning or double-entendre as they did with the Lightwoods- she was snarky, smart and kind. 

Also, most importantly, she bought them all coffee. Bless Clary Fray.

“...And that's when Jace decides to bust open the door! So I'm there, making out with this smokin' prize, and I just kinda look up like 'shit' ”-” Isabelle started laughing, recollecting herself before she continued: “And Alec walks in behind him and goes, dead-pan: 'Nice tattoos'. The poor dude is there, mortified, shirtless, and these two other guys are staring at him like either they're going to rip his face off or they know all his secrets and are gonna tell his mom!” 

By now, the entire group bar Alec was laughing. 

“Jeeze, you guys are kinda a-holes to each other, huh?” Clary snickered.. “How'd you guess?” Alec and Isabelle chorused, pausing as they noticed their synchronized response. The girl laughed, before noting: “Also Jace sounds like a douche.” 

At that, Simon snorted: “Believe me, he is.”   
Alec rolled his eyes. “Just because you met him once or twice...”

“Once or twice is enough when each time I see him the guy is a) admiring himself in a mirror b) being a dick to someone or c) angsting to you about some BS when you have much more to worry about!” Simon snapped, turning heated as he progressed before realising what he'd said. 

“I-uh-” It was too late. 

“Much more to worry about? Alec-” Isabelle started. 

The chair scraped the floor loudly as he stood up. “It's getting late. We should head back.” In an instant, Isabelle was on her feet too. “Alec, you have got to stop doing this.” 

“Doing what? Let's go, Simon.”

“THIS! Pretending nothing's wrong when something clearly is!” 

“It's none of your concern, Isabelle. I'm fine.” Alec gritted out.

“No, you're obviously not! And I don't see why your cute little roommate knows more about it than your own sister!”

“Maybe you're not doing such a great job at being a sister, then!” 

Silence fell.

Alec could tell immediately that his words had gotten to her by the way she bristled, and felt a vindictive surge of joy. Taste of your own medicine? 

He'd forgotten that a hurt Isabelle meant a hurtful one.

“Oh, all right, Alec. I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job of finding a date for the Christmas party, then. Wouldn't want to disappoint mother and father, would you? Are you going to be telling Jace about-”

“I ALREADY HAVE A GOD-DAMN DATE!”

And with that, resisting the urge to slap the startled look off her face, he left the shop, door slamming shut behind him. 

–-----------

Simon caught up with him at the train station, out of breath and apologetic. “Have you...Have you actually found a date?”

Alec's tired glare was enough of an answer.

–----------

He was so done. So done. As he punched the wall in anger, knuckles turning red and strangled cries attempting to exit his throat, Alec felt like he was falling to pieces.

All his life- all his life!- he had been playing his role of the perfect son. He'd stayed quiet, he'd not complained, he'd remained overshadowed. And never, never was there a single word of appreciation for it.

And now that he'd snapped, let some of the anger out? Now it was just as bad.  
He didn't know how to deal with the truth. He wasn't used to being noticed.

Instead, his mind flew wildly in a thousand directions, focusing on the party.  
God, if only he could miss it. He could fall ill, he could die, something, anything.

And yet, he couldn't. Because that would mean he had lost, again. 

Simon had went out, cautiously, after making sure he really didn't want anything.

And now he'd have to phone for favours- maybe that girl from the archery club would go with him. 

 

Of course, at that very moment, he realized he'd forgotten his phone at the Musain.

–--------

It was already late when he finally arrived at the Café, which was miraculously still open. His scowl sent three people scurrying away as he reached for the door, cheeks lightly flushed from the cold.

The place was mostly empty as he stepped through the door, Clary still manning the till and chatting with some guy. 

“No, I cannot and will not give you the so-called cute one's number, and that is final.!”

Spotting Alec, she shook her head. “And speaking of...”

Alec, rolling his eyes, stepped up to the counter as the guy turned around. “No, sorry, my sister isn't interested, she's already gotten herself a boy-toy for the week.”

The guy laughed. “I wasn't interested in her.” 

And, yeah, ok, maybe Alec kind of died a little on the inside because the guy was really not all that bad looking. At all. 

His eyes were slanted, almost golden, and his grin was sharp. His cheekbones could have made him family. (Alec hoped not- there was enough creepy inbreeding in the aristocracy as it was). His hair was dark, and artfully messy, and -what the hell was he wearing?

Still, he was distracted enough by the guy's face to simply turn red and duck his head. 

Clary sighed as the guy laughed again, handing Alec his phone. “Don't listen to him, Alec, he's incorrigible.” 

Alec's muttered “thanks” was overwhelmed by the guy's retort. “Now, now, Clary. Don't be bitter. You're stringing on that poor brunet as it is.”

Clary flushed. “I'm not stringing Simon on, we're friends!” 

Unfairly hot stranger, as Alec had dubbed him, raised one perfect eyebrow at her until she squirmed.

“Oh, just get out of here, you horrible man!”

Smirking, unfairly hot stranger pushed himself off the stool with feline grace, before turning to Alec: “See you around, handsome.”

Alec stared at his back, scarlet, as Clary huffed. 

“Seriously, if I can give you one piece of advice- Alec?”

“Thanks for the phone.” Alec mumbled dazedly, mind whirring.

The idea he'd just had was crazy. It was completely and utterly insane. It was the type of thing Jace did, or Isabelle. 

He rushed out of the door, grabbing unfairly hot stranger's arm and whirling him around. The guy seemed surprised, or as surprised as his type of person ever got. 

“Will you go to my family's Christmas dinner with me?” Alec blurted out, releasing the man.

He blinked.

Then, slowly, incredulously: “You want me- as in, the person currently standing in front of you- to go to a family Christmas dinner?” 

A pause. 

“Are you completely insane?”

“Yeah, they give you an Iphone 6 when they release you from the asylum.” Alec snapped. He couldn't help it- nerves, or anger, brought out the most bitingly sarcastic side of him. People who thought the other Lightwoods were bad knew nothing.

The guy laughed, looking equally horrified and delighted. 

“Right, and why exactly do you require my presence at this nice and cosy reunion?”

Alec hesitated, then set his jaw. “I hate my family and I'm sick of playing nice.”

“So, what, I'm the death blow?”

“Yes.” 

There were several ways in which the other could respond: hurt, annoyance, shock, or....

“You know what, kid, I like you. I'm in.”

Unfairly hot guy put out a gloved hand to shake. Alec remained frozen in surprise for a moment, then shook it.

“Alec Lightwood.” He offered.

The guy nearly choked, before staring at him with wide eyes. 

“Oh, my God. Are you even for real? You're a Lightwood?”

Then, catching himself: “I should have known by the cheekbones...”

Alec, uneasy, frowned at him. “Is there a problem with that?”

He was rewarded with a disbelieving snort, and then his phone was grabbed and the man was entering a number at the speed of light (how the hell had he managed to guess his code, anyway?) before handing it back to him with a quick shake of the head.

“You're lucky you're cute, Alexander!” was his greeting as he turned sharply and started wandering off.

Alec, shocked, only regained his speech in time to shout at him: “Hey- I didn't even catch your name!”

“Look me up! I'm not hard to find!”

And with that he disappeared from view.

Alec, staring at his phone, wondered what the hell he'd gotten himself into.

–--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for more- hit me up at quidfree.tumblr.com for questions or just leave kudos/comments.  
> Sidenote: I do love Magnus a lot. And spontaneous Alec is a wonderful creature.  
> Simon and Alec are somehow excellent friends here, and Clary is hopefully less annoying than in canon.


	3. a date of sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus sighed: “I am a busy man, Alexander, I hope you realize that.”
> 
> “But you also hate my family a lot.” Alec stated, bluntly. 
> 
> At that, Magnus laughed, kind of softly, and gave him a sharp grin. “You're not wrong, Alec Lightwood."
> 
> (Alec learns who the stranger is, and also that he is definitely not a stranger. A journey in the chaotic mind of Alexander Lightwood ensues, as do a meeting (date) with Magnus (which is totally a date) and the start of a crazy plan.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a really difficult chapter to write for the exact same reasons that it's difficult for Alec to be around Magnus: on the one hand, Alec is trying to hold back, and on the other, he really doesn't want to. It's hard keeping the pace slow when in the original story they start making out after a day, haha! And, of course, there's the fact that this Alec seems rather distant from the Alec at the start of TMI, as some of you pointed out- this is mainly because his time away from J&I forced him to kind of develop his own attitude, and life at uni in general allowed him to be more comfortable with himself, so he's more like the Alec later on in the series. Still, there's a long way to go for Alexander- the messy, weird pattern of his thinking is supposed to reflect the fact that he's very conflicted, because although he does want to burn down all his pretense and kiss the living daylights out of Magnus, he's still Alec, aka he's a sensible, pensive person, and very reluctant to go wild. Ahh, anyway, sorry for long notes- enjoy!

Ok, Alec thought, sitting in his room with imperturbable calm. Ok. Everything was fine. 

Everything was completely under control.

Google seemed to laugh at him as the same face smirked back at him on the results page. “Magnus Bane, 22, sole in heritor of the Bane enterprises, head of the Warlock data mainframe.” And then, on a great number of less polite websites: “Sexy Bane at it again!”And “NY's number one heartbreaker” and “Interview with Magnus Bane: party wizard and great in bed ;)”.Alec hadn't even bothered with the last one- the pictures were enough convincing.

Magnus Bane. Magnus bleeding Bane. 

He knew perfectly well who Magnus Bane was. 

It was no secret that the Lightwood family's prestige stemmed from their highly aristocratic background and their fortune, and that fortune stemmed largely from Lightwood enterprises. These very same enterprises had a long time rivalry with all the Downworld industries, but also especially with one particular company: the highly successful Bane enterprises. 

Oh, yeah, he had heard all about how the Banes had “no respect for tradition”, were “a bunch of no-good corrupt thieves” and- his personal favourite- were “the equivalent of some crazed demon's spawn”. All this, of course, was from the rather biased point of view of his parents, and his father in particular. Still, their complaints didn't stop the hi-tech, glamourous Bane company from prospering. So instead, a new victim: Magnus Bane.

His father called him a “no-good ponce” with “a crook's luck” and “no morals”. His mother thought he was “the epitome of the extravagant, lavish and corrupt youth”. Alec had thought that he was probably just some rich douche.

The thing was, though, he'd never seen his face before- Alec never read celebrity magazines, so that was an option less, and though he did read a lot of news, the news he read didn't usually include many pictures (Isabelle tended to call it 'news for cranky old men', but he'd caught her reading Fifty Shades twice so she wasn't one to judge). He was pretty sure he'd seen the guy's face a few times- highly unlikely that he hadn't, after all-but he rarely paid attention to such things.

And now here he was, having invited Magnus Bane to their family Christmas dinner.

Taking a shaky breath, Alec let his head drop back and exhaled. Well, at least he supposed he'd one upped both Jace and Isabelle on this matter.

–----

He woke up the next morning stiff and sore- he'd fallen asleep on the chair, somehow. It took him about ten minutes to shower and get ready- though not the type to sing with the birds or other nonsense, Alec was a morning person, if only by habit. As opposed to Jace and Isabelle's beauty sleep, he was usually up and awake long before the rest of the household. He supposed it helped that he only ever wore varying shades of black with converse or combat boots. 

On the way to the kitchen he caught Simon sprawled on the sofa, snoring lightly. The game controller lay by his feet. 

It was only after a rapid breakfast that he grabbed his phone and stared at the screen in surprise.

MB, 03.12 am: Should I bring flowers to the funeral or has a heart attack not yet deprived me of your charming company?  
MB, 03.13 am: ;)

Alec scowled faintly at the mocking tone, trying and failing to stop his cheeks from flushing regardless.

He hesitated, stealing a glance at Simon's lifeless form for some reason, then steeled himself.

To: MB: Not quite dead yet, I'm afraid. Are you free this morning?

To his surprise, it only took a minute before his phone beeped repeatedly.

MB, 08.01 am: Good lord, Lightwood. Can't a man get some sleep around these parts?  
MB, 08.03 am: You're lucky my cat hates me.  
MB, 08.03 am: I'll pick you up at ten.

Alec barely had the time to register that he apparently knew where he lived when there was a loud crashing sound and an undignified screech from behind him.

Simon, on the floor, waved sheepishly when he gave him an unimpressed stare.

–------

For some peculiar reason, he ended up being extremely jittery from nine onwards, to the extent that Simon got worried.

“Alec?”

“Hmm?”

“It's nine fifteen. You've been nodding at my speech about Star Wars since eight forty.”

“Hm.”

“ALEC!”

“What?!”

“Did you stay up until three on tumblr or something? I'm supposed to be the one who's nonsensical in the morning, not you. And why do you keep watching the clock? It's like you're expecting....Ooooh.”

Alec realized the dangerous turn the rant was taking mere moments too late. Simon, smile growing slowly regardless of his tangled curls and crooked glasses, was already on track.

“Alec...Are you expecting anyone by any chnace?”

“No.”

“Really? Reaaally?”

“No. I mean, yes, really.”

“Wait, do you have a DATE?!”

“I said no, Simon.”

“You totally do! Who is she?”

Alec slapped his forehead in annoyance as Simon grinned triumphantly. Great. Now Simon was never going to drop it. And his own forced 'yes I am totally 100 percent not interested in dudes haha that is me' mantra had worked so well that if Simon found out who it was...Oh, God, and it was Magnus Bane. Simon would totally recognize Magnus Bane.

Mentally groaning in frustration, he grit out: “It's not a date.” 

“So someone is coming! YES! I knew it!

Seizing the opportunity, Alec shot out: “Yes, ok, but do you really want them to see you in this state?”

Simon's excitement faded. “Uh. Not particularly.”

At that, Alec's smirk grew. “Good. Then you won't mind up clearing up the sofa, and the living room, and the hallway while you're at it, and also the kitchen because I did not leave those Chocopuffs out there, and also-”

“Okay, okay, I get it!”

–-----

By nine fifty-five, Simon was busy drying his hair, constantly peeking out from his room to check on Alec, who was lazily scrolling through his emails, the picture of nonchalance.

“You know, Alec,” Simon said, lightly amused, “I don't think your date's going to be very impressed with that scowl.”

“Not a date.” 

“Nor with that glare, as a matter of fact!”

At the look he received, he laughed, then said more seriously: “But hey, how come I've never met this mysterious person? Most of your other friends are quite nice...”

Alec translated this as: “Most of your other friends are either sarcastic and anti-social or your siblings.”, but his reply was cut off by a series of rapid knocks on the door.

He nearly knocked over the chair in the dash for the door, mentally sighing with relief when Simon tripped and stumbled over his own feet, slowing him down.

Through the small opening that Alec was very aggressively blocking Simon's view of, Magnus smirked all-knowingly. 

“My, my, are we in a hurry to see me.”

“Roommate.” Alec said, slipping through the door and slamming it shut as Simon let out a scandalized cry.

From here, he was standing rather close to Magnus, who watched him in a vaguely patronizing, vaguely amused way.

“You'll excuse me if I look like a wreck. I had very little sleep last night.”

“I have little interest in your nocturnal activities.” Alec muttered, trying to avoid looking at him. Even so, it was very obvious that Magnus looked far from wrecked- his clothes were as flashy as always, his hair impeccably styled in that effortless “this took no time whatsoever” look, and his appearance as fresh as could be.

Magnus snorted, allowing him to pass as they walked down the stairs. 

They walked in silence for a moment, Alec having resorted to forcing himself not to check over his shoulder for Simon. He did trust him, though- Simon was more of a quiet, drily funny type than the loud and annoying type, usually, so he was pretty sure he hadn't planned on stalking them or something.

Magnus seemed to be inspecting the staircase with quiet amusement. Alec got the feeling he often had the “silently amused at something no one else is intelligent enough to get” look. And speaking of looking-

“How exactly did you find out where I live?”

Magnus snorted. “You're Alec Lightwood. It wasn't hard finding where you lived. The security your parents got to surround the place is already a give-away.”

“The security?”

“Did you really think all the security cameras and guards prowling about in the building were here for your dormmate?”

Alec flushed, half embarrassed and half angered. He understood perfectly well that his parents were influential people, but the fact that they thought he couldn't defend himself against possible threats was horribly frustrating.

Thankfully, Magnus had moved on, surveying the area as they walked outside.

“So, where are we going, Mr Lightwood? I'm guessing we're not going to try and make it easy for the paparazzi.”

Alec shook his head. “I was thinking we could go to this restaurant I know, if you don't mind. It's kind of obscure, so I doubt we'll have any problems there.”

Magnus hummed in approval, then gave him a sideways glance. “You know, you still haven't told me why I was so tragically deprived my extra sleep. You don't have to buy me a meal just to say that you don't think it would be a good idea to-”

“No!” Alec interrupted him a little too loudly, flushing lightly when Magnus stared. “That's not- I just thought, if we maybe actually knew a little about each other, it would make it easier for the dinner. It's only in a few days, so...”

Magnus observed him. “So you called me over to...Go on a real date to prepare for a fake date?”

Alec, whose heart was hammering unfairly quickly, merely managed a vague “yeah”.

Immediately, the distance in Magnus' appearance seemed to disappear.

“Good! I can stop holding it back. You know, it's actually horribly unfair for me- not only are you cute, but you're very much my type.”

Confronted with his beaming and his flirting, Alec resorted to sarcasm as self-defence. 

“The great Magnus Bane's type is repressed and cynical?”

“Cute.” Magnus said airily, before gesturing to a car parked nearby. “I was talking about the eyes and hair, actually, but the charming personality helps too, I suppose.” 

Alec had to actually stop himself from laughing- for some reason, his barriers were alarmingly unprepared for Magnus Bane. Still, he sounded suspiciously amused even as he stopped by the car.

“Charming personality, right. I can see how my radiating smile matches the glare of your car.”

Magnus gasped in mock offense, climbing in and gesturing for Alec to do so. He wasn't sure how exactly Magnus thought they could be discrete in the bright blue, sparkly coupé, but even as he voiced his doubts the man only smiled and flipped his sunglasses on.

“When in Vegas, darling!”

“We're in New York!”

“I wasn't last night.”

And with that, the car took off as Alec stared incredulously at the maniac currently driving their car.

He was probably going to die.

–--------

As the car screeched to a halt, clashing loudly with the quiet atmosphere of the street, Alec mused that at least he would die in good company.

He'd spent the entire ride being shamelessly flirted at- and, to an extent, flirting back.

It was kind of horrible, actually- Alec was usually an excellent diplomat, and good at holding back, but around the Bane inheritor he seemed to be unable to keep his mouth shut. 

He had to use double the sarcasm he usually did just to save face, too, and considering how sarcastic he was that was particularly impressive.

Still, compared to Isabelle and Jace, who he usually left the talking to, Alec was quiet- being on his own with anyone, especially anyone who actually made him talk, left him at a loss as to what to do. 

University had helped- Alec was naturally straightforward (or rather blunt) with a dangerous honesty to him, but escaping his siblings' constant presence had helped him work on that. Nowadays he usually just resorted to sarcasm if he had to talk for long. Simon, in that aspect at least, was a lucky win for a roommate. Not only was he fine with sitting quietly, but he was nice, and rather snappy himself- with him, Alec had managed to go from monosyllabic, blunt answers to multiple sentences dripping with sarcasm.

That was the case with most of his friends at uni, and Alec was glad he'd gotten to a stage where he no longer simply naively followed Izzy and Jace around without any basic social skills.

The thing was, though, the snapping yesterday was kind of sudden- Alec had never had the time or energy to waste on relationships, and in his position, well, didn't really have a chance to. After yesterday, he was reckless- free to flirt as he pleased, although in this case it was really only a way of getting back at his family.

“We're here, we're queer, get over it.” He muttered under his breath, rather absent-mindedly.

Magnus, pausing at the door of the restaurant, eyed him curiously. “I'm sorry?”

Alec coughed, ducking his head and practically sprinting past him to avoid confrontation.

“Okay, well, here's the place!”

Magnus followed, looking around approvingly. 

Alec wasn't one with great taste in fashion, or someone who stayed on top of trends- he nearly always wore the same kind of black clothes, he had no desire to dunk his phone in soap for likes, and his “aesthetic”, as he drily put it on his tumblr, would be a library with a water supply and some form of sleeping quarters. Or an archery court.

Isabelle, however, insisted he had some kind of Lightwood gene hidden somewhere that gave him excellent taste in “a few very very specific areas”. Photography, music and tiny, old shops were apparently his redeeming features.

This restaurant in particular, with its strange 1950s-meets-punk atmosphere, was a gem- and its colour scheme looked like it had been designed for Magnus' outfit of the day.

Alec looked in surprise from the decoration to Magnus' bejewelled Doc Martens, constellation type skinny jeans and 50s ice-cream parlour turquoise crop top- it did, in fact, look like he'd almost planned the occasion. His fingers itched to snap a picture and post it with a triumphant “aesthetic”, but instead his eyes stayed fixated on Magnus' hipbones and stomach, which he had been trying to avoid staring at for the entire day. God damn it.

At that moment, the waiter appeared, beaming when he saw Alec.

“Hey, Alec! Nice to see you! And you've brought company!”

Alec, smiling vaguely and sending a relieved thanks to the heavens for the interruption, edged closer to a table as he replied: “Magnus, this is Will. Will, Magnus.”  
Will laughed, extending a hand as he turned to greet Magnus: “Well, nice to meet you, man! Not often that this kid brings company here, and I wouldn't 'a guessed you were his type, but I guess he's full of surprises!”

Magnus, smiling sharply, shook his hand: “Isn't he just.”

Conversation ensued, only stopping when the cheerful Namibian disappeared around the corner to help out in the kitchen.

Magnus, sipping carefully at his drink, looked over at Alec with a thoughtful glance.

“So, Mr Lightwood. What can you tell me about yourself?”

“Why do I have to go first?” Alec protested, setting his own drink down .

“Well, first of all,” Magnus said, lifting a ring-coated finger elegantly, “I'm very interested in your life.”

At that, Alec snorted, inner voice that sounded a lot like Isabelle crowing “Interested in my ass, more like!”

“And secondly,” Magnus continued as if there had been no interruption, “I'm still not entirely convinced your parents didn't send you to record all my secrets as pillow talk.”

Alec felt his ears turn red, but Magnus' bitter tone when he mentioned his parents didn't escape his notice. He had a feeling there was something rather more personal about the feud concerning them.  
Still-

“I doubt they'd send me over if that was the goal.” Alec pointed out. “Not that it's impossible, but theoretically- if they like guys they'd send Jace, girls they'd send Isabelle, and if they like neither they'd use Max's childish innocence to win them over.” 

And then, rather more recklessly: “Besides, I don't know about you, but concerning the pillow talk, family dinners don't really put me in the mood.”

Magnus grinned at the last comment, before tapping his nails against the table: “What, you think people would prefer Jace to you?”

Alec shrugged. “It's kind of obvious.”

Magnus looked personally offended. 

“What, you're telling me you wouldn' t choose Jace?” Alec prompted, maybe a little too incredulously.

Magnus gave an extremely mocking “ha!”, then gave him a look: “Please. As if. Just because the guy is attractive doesn't mean he's not an obnoxious, arrogant and shallow brat.”

“Aren't you like...two years older than me?”

“Not the point, Alexander.” Magnus stated, waving his hand grandiosely: “The point is I am a very busy man, with no time to waste on yet another angsty, straight, white, ridiculously privileged imbecile with a hair fetish.” His tone was rather acerbic. 

Alec nearly choked on his drink, suppressing something that sounded suspiciously like a giggle. 

“Jace,” he spluttered, after calming himself, “Is kind of justified in his angst.” And then, more seriously: “He had a shitty childhood.”

“Haven't we all?” Magnus asked, watching him rather curiously. 

Alec looked away.

“But in answer to your question, no, I would most definitely not choose Jace.” Magnus continued, airily.

At that, Alec sat up straighter: “Wait- if you know what Jace looks like, and Isabelle, why didn't you recognize me yesterday?”

Magnus laughed. “I'm afraid that was a point in your favour- I only ever read the trashiest gossip magazines if I'm reading people news. Your Casanova is often featured, as is your sister's scandalous love life- but you, my dear, are simply either too perfect either too good to be caught. I'm sure I must have vaguely recognized you, but I have to admit I probably thought you were a past, ah, friend of mine.”

Alec swallowed, keeping his eyes fixed on Magnus even as he wanted very much to hide away. Everything just seemed surreal- from the fact that the person sitting opposite him was actually interested to the fact that he was a he and that Alec wasn't stopping him. 

“Maybe,” he said as their food arrived, “Maybe I will be a friend of yours.”

Magnus managed to seem both surprised and smug. 

–---------

“....against Legolas? He's an excellent archer, and he's an elf!”

“Fair, but are you really going to rank him above Aragorn? Viggo Morgenstein was on point in those movies.”

Alec scowled as Magnus raised a brow. 

Their debate on which Lord of the Rings character was the most attractive was cut off by Will, coughing as he pointed at the bill.

Magnus, smiling, pulled out a couple of twenty dollar bills and put them down.

“That's way more than necessary, uh, sir.” Will said, getting formal in his embarrassment.

“I know.” Magnus said, standing up. “But I had a delightful meal and delightful company, so I'm feeling generous.”

Will stared, then beamed. 

“I was going to get that.” Alec said, frowning as he stood up. “I pulled you out of bed for this.”

“I know.” Magnus repeated, stressing the second word. “And I repeat: delightful company.”

Alec had to pause to recompose himself.

–--------

It was early evening when they finally arrived back at the flat.

“So.” Alec said, feeling particularly stupid. He had to keep reminding himself that he was doing this to get revenge, and most of all that Magnus was doing this to....well, probably also that, or to get laid, or out of sheer boredom.

“So.” Magnus said, indulgently, lightly mocking.

“I...” Alec said, and then, firmly: “Are you busy tomorrow afternoon?”

Magnus looked surprised again, the way he had the first time, though to a lesser extent. It kind of made Alec wish, vaguely, that he wasn't doing this just for the kicks, and that he wasn't Magnus Bane, so that Alec could keep on seeing him like this.

Instead, Magnus sighed: “I am a busy man, Alexander, I hope you realize that.”

“But you also hate my family a lot.” Alec stated, bluntly. 

At that, Magnus laughed, kind of softly, and gave him a sharp grin. “You're not wrong, Alec Lightwood.”

And then he was reaching for something and pressing a card into Alec's hand, before he backed away and turned around. “Tomorrow at four, darling. Don't be late.”

Alec stared at the card, simple four digit code printed on it- he guessed the security code to Magnus' place, or something. 

“Do you always exit dramatically like this?” He called at Magnus' back.

“How else?”

–---------

He walked up to his flat slowly, kind of arguing with himself. One part of him, sighing in disbelief, was asking: “You do realize he's just doing this for fun, right? This is Magnus Bane. You have four days until he leaves.” The other part, annoyingly, was grinning unstoppably, a bit giddy and a bit too pleased with itself. Alec, gripping the card tightly as he opened the door, couldn't help but smile down at his boots. 

“The prodigal son returns!” Simon exclaimed, eyes bright and curious from where he sat.

“How'd it go?”

Alec shrugged off his coat, biting his lip to keep from beaming like an idiot.

“We are not discussing this.”

It was then he noticed Clary, eyes keen, and paled. Shit.

“Uh, you don't mind Clary being here, do you?” Simon asked, misinterpreting his sudden silence. “I figured seeing as you were out, and you already know her-”

“It's fine.” Alec grit out, half touched by the kid's regard for his feelings and half wanting to throw Clary's body in a ditch. He didn't know if Clary knew Magnus, but she knew Alec had been out with Magnus, and if she talked Simon would definitely be able to figure it out.

It was probably stupid to be this worked up about it now, when he planned on something infinitely more harmful to his reputation in a mere couple of days, but it felt like Clary talking would ruin everything.

“Hey, Alec.” Clary said, lightly, as Simon gave her a confused yet relieved look.

“Clary.” He said, then forced himself to add: “How was your day?”

“Fine, thanks. Simon and I-” 

He tuned out the story, merely nodding and raising a judgemental brow when it seemed necessary.  
It was only when Simon stood up that he started listening again.

“Wait, I'm going to go get my history book- I found this chapter about Rome that you would love...”

He ran out of the room, and Alec very pointedly did not look at Clary, hoping she would shut up.

“Alec.”

Or, of course, she could do that.

“What?” 

To her credit, she didn't flee at the sight of his glare, although she did shrink into the sofa.

“About Magnus-” She held up a hand when he made to interrupt, continuing rapidly: “I know that he seems nice, and he is really charismatic and hot and famous but you don't seem like the one night stand type of person so I just want to warn you that he is, and anything else is going to break your heart.”

Alec blinked.

“And I'm sorry I'm intruding in your personal life but honestly you looked like you'd been having a shitty time so I kind of don't want it to get worse, so-”

She trailed off, while Alec stared.

OK, so Clary wasn't trying to blackmail him. Clary was...Trying to keep him safe?

“Uh.”

She blushed, tugging on a stay lock of hair.

Alec, for a moment, was incapable of reacting. When he did, it was to do something he really wasn't planning on doing.

He laughed. 

Clary stared in shock, then sputtered.

“I thought you were pissed! You utter and complete-”

“God, sorry, I was not expecting that-”

He laughed again, then managed to take a deep breath and quieten. Clary's mouth was slightly open.

“You know, I bet if you laughed more you would have way more people chasing you around.”

Alec blinked, ears reddening for the umpteenth time. “Pardon me?”

Clary back-tracked. “Oh, God, I am so sorry- I don't know what the hell is up with my brain, like, seriously-”

Alec, feeling horribly spontaneous, cut her off: “Would you be interested in meeting Jace with me?”

Clary frowned, confused. “Huh?”

Heart suddenly beating like crazy, Alec gave her a slightly manic grin and told her everything.

–---------

It was only by one in the morning that Alec fell asleep. Clary herself had only left by eleven, and she'd listened to him in shock, then in quiet understanding, and then an impish grin had begun to appear as he moved further on. It had been great- she'd shooed Simon out when he'd returned, to continue discussing their crazy plan, and then she'd stayed to kick Simon's ass at Call Of Duty.

Because he was Alec Lightwood, of course, he didn't stay content for long. By twelve, he was in bed panicking. Clary was right about Magnus, of course- the man was only there to mess around, and Alec was already alarmingly open around him, like some stupid blushing idiot with no life experience. Not only that, but he was going to break down every wall he'd carefully built if he carried out his plan- and his family could, quite possibly, shun him forever. And then there was Jace- Jace, on whom he had long had a painful, poisonous crush, Jace that he was still so fragile around, and who always seemed to poke at what hurt the most, Jace, who he would be punishing and coming out to in one swift blow on Christmas. And Clary, of course, who he'd managed to drag into the mess by convincing her to meet Jace and beat him up- ok, not really, that's what she'd suggested.

Alec was a mess, really, and so disorganized. He wasn't meant to be. He needed to find something solid in the mess and recreate a new type of orderly chaos, the kind he lived so well. 

His shaky, short breaths and trembling hands kept him up for an hour, and his mind whirled in a thousand directions. And then, of course, his brain had decided to focus on Magnus, and to remind Alec of their conversation about Tolstoy versus Wilde, and so to effectively destroy any other kind of thoughts in his brain.

He fell asleep quietly, and yet with a sense of vague excitement, like an exhausted child before their birthday. 

He woke up to a text from Magnus, cheerfully blinking at him from the screen of his phone.

MB, 9.10 am: Morning sleeping beauty.

MB, 9.12 am: See what a productive human being I am? This is an ungodly hour, I tell you. The deities are cruel.

MB, 9.14: And speaking of deities, have I mentioned that my cat is probably the offspring of Satan? Charming yet heinous creature.

Alec felt his toes curl giddily and a smile appear unwanted on his face, and realized rather tiredly that he really was kind of screwed concerning Magnus Bane.

–----------

From: Lightwood boy, 9.30: Sounds familiar. You sure he's not related to Jace?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Alec runs into Jace, Alec runs into trouble and Alec literally runs into Magnus. Poor child.
> 
> Before I forget: Happy Easter to all those who celebrate it! It's already afternoon here in France, so I'm afraid our Easter Bunny has passed...  
> ALSO: thanks to all the lovely commentors on this fic! I wasn't planning to actually work much on this, but if people are reading it I might have to rethink that...@Marie, btw, Clary was one of my favourite characters near the start, but I feel like a lot of her personality was erased/turned into her fixation with Jace, whom I will admit to disliking. Hope that clears it up ;) And both Katt and LittleBlackCap are correct in assuming that there is more than economic rivalry between the Lightwoods and Magnus...Although I'll confess the backstory for that is quite muddled in my head for the moment, haha.


	4. trouble of sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Alec walks into Jace, walks into trouble, gains Internet fame, and quite literally walks into Magnus. Things go wild from there.)
> 
> "Magnus, sitting nearby with his phone in his hand, beamed at him. “You’re alive! Good. The Chairman was just starting to insinuate my lack of medical skills had lead to your premature demise.”
> 
> Alec just stared at him.
> 
> Magnus’ hair was slightly ruffled, and his sleeves were rolled up, which unfortunately suited him very well, but otherwise, he looked perfectly normal- that is to say, not like a pain-induced hallucination.
> 
> “Don’t worry, you would have made a very tragically handsome corpse.” Non-hallucination told him, still smiling. 
> 
> Alec continued staring."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mild violence
> 
> After much waiting, here is chapter four, which is about as long as all three previous chapters together. I honestly have no idea how the fuck it got this long, but here we are. At least you'll have a nice, really, really long read.
> 
> You'll notice a few points that seem different from canon- I'll be commenting on them in the end notes, in case you're perplexed. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Simon was going home that afternoon, making the best of the holiday even though he didn't actually celebrate Christmas. A lot of students had left the campus long before that, but seeing as Simon’s mother lived nearby, he’d decided to stay at uni for a while before heading home.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go home, you know,” Simon explained as he searched for his mother’s gift. “I just feel kind of overwhelmed if I spend too long in my tiny old bedroom back home. My feet hang off the edge of my bed, I’m not even joking.”

“You’ve been hanging around rich people too much.” Alec said dryly, watching him scurry around from the sofa.

“Pff, probably. I still can’t believe I ended up rooming with the one guy that owns, like, the entire floor.” Simon replied, pausing as he noticed the horrific lamp he’d gotten his mother proning on the coffee table. “Oh, _there_ it is! Dude, why didn’t you tell me it was there?”

“My _parents_ own the floor, not me.” Alec pointed out, not looking up from his phone. “And it was funny watching you run around.”

Simon groaned. “Wow, nice. See if I leave you a present.”

Alec merely raised a judgemental eyebrow. “After seeing the monstrosity you got for your mother…" He pulled a face. "I don't even get the point of it- you guys are Jewish!”

Simon scoffed as he struggled to lift the thing and shove it into the bag he’d gotten for it. “Yeah, I know, I know, we don't celebrate Christmas, but it's one of the only holidays I can actually take off, so I figure I might as well take advantage of the cheaper gifts and give her something just because." And then, pointedly: "Besides, I _told_ you, she _likes_ ugly lamps like these. The only way she’d be more pleased would be if this thing could play Masterchef.”

“She watches Masterchef? Good lord. This woman sounds more and more like Isabelle by the minute.”

“Your sister watches _Masterchef_? No way.”

“Well, not necessarily Masterchef,” Alec admitted, just as Simon managed to shove the thing forcefully into the bag. “But she is heavily invested in most competitive shows, especially concerning fashion. I’m pretty sure she and Jace once broke a T.V. while fighting about whether Shané or Desirée should become the next Top Model.”

Simon coughed, saying something that sounded suspiciously like “rich people” under his breath.

Alec merely sighed, not bothering to defend himself.

His roommate finally having collected everything he wanted, Alec lifted his feet to let him squeeze through their living room and dump his bags unceremoniously by the entrance.

“Well, that’s that.” Simon said, wincing as he stretched. “Ugh. History books weigh a ton. I should have studied music.”

Alec snorted. “If you were lugging a bass around, I’m sure you’d be complaining too.”

At that, Simon pulled a face, running a hand through his hair. “I guess I can’t complain. At least I’m not studying law.”

Alec shrugged. “I’m not even sure if I _want_ to be studying law, or what kind of law I want to study. I’m pretty sure that isn’t the best place to start.”

“Please, dude. You actually _enjoy_ researching obscure cases for hours. That is _not_ natural.”

“I’ll give you that.”

Simon laughed, then shot him a look.

“By the by, if you wanna ditch your family or something, my mom’s been dying to meet you.”

Alec stilled, giving him a stare as Simon looked back innocently.

“I-I’ll be fine, thanks. But tell your mother I said hi.”

Simon gave him a worried smile, then sighed.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting anything else. Merry early Christmas, Alec.”

Alec got up to see him out, before freezing at the glint in Simon’s eyes.

“On a scale of one to ten, how needlessly awkward are you going to make this for me?”

“Very.” Simon quipped, before hugging him firmly.

Alec squirmed, but hugged him back briefly. Simon let him go, grinning.

“Merry early Christmas to you too, you ridiculous nerd.” Alec sighed, pushing lightly at his shoulder. "Even though, as I have already pointed out, you're fucking Jewish." He smiled at him, quickly, before prodding him. “Now go, before I have to physically haul you down the stairs.”

Simon winced. “Having seen you flip someone over your shoulder at least twice, I’m going to take that seriously.”

“You should.”

\-------

When he’d left, Alec heaved a sigh and dropped back onto the sofa.

He wondered what would have happened if he just grabbed his things and ran after him.

Still, he was too prideful to depend on someone’s goodwill, and besides he had a plan to carry out, self-destructive though it may be.

His phone buzzed.

It was Maia, from the kick-boxing club. He didn’t go there often, but they shared a class anyway, so he supposed she counted as a steady acquaintance.

“Hey, Alec! Sorry to bother, I was wondering if you had Simon’s number? I need to ask him something about his band for Jordan :P”

Alec rolled his eyes. Maia and Simon had dated for a while before deciding they were better off as friends, and Maia was constantly either dating her ex, Jordan, or dumping him. It seemed that they were currently in an “on” period.

He texted the girl back regardless, musing about his odd circle of acquaintances.

Simon, though not his parents’ type, was still better than Maia and Jordan, who both had steady links with a number of Downworlder companies. And he was pretty sure Clary’s stepfather was also currently working somewhere around there.

Alec, usually, would have pointed out that at least he wasn’t doing an Izzy and _dating_ a Downworlder, but the whole Magnus Bane thing was much worse than that, so he had nothing to say for himself.

Thinking about Magnus made him think back to their meal the day before, which in turn made him realize how hungry he was. Checking his watch, he discovered that it was almost two o’ clock.

Ah. Right.

He decided on heading out to get some fresh air. He didn’t like being cooped up in one place too long.

Outside, the air was crisp and his breaths had started to come out in puffs of air. Hands shoved firmly in his pockets, Alec walked as he was prone to do, with his head down and his thoughts distant.

He ate lunch at the nearest Starbucks, blending in easily with the masses of hipsters thanks to the pretentious woolen coat he’d received from Isabelle a year ago.

He was finishing his coffee when a pretty black girl with a mass of curls and a bright smile sat down opposite him.

He looked up, frowning, as she began to speak.

“Hi! I have a friend that thinks you’re cute, so I figured I’d come and see if you were a complete dickhead or not.”

Alec blinked up at her in surprise, before mumbling: “Sorry, ‘m not interested.”

The girl pulled a face. “Yo, pretty boy, you don’t even know her. Unless you’re already dating someone?”

Suddenly, very clearly, Alec saw an opportunity where he had previously only ever seen a danger. “Actually,” he started, taking a deep breath to steady himself, “I’m just really gay.”

The girl blinked in surprise, before throwing her head back and laughing.

“Oh, man, ok! That makes two of us!”

Alec stared at her, then risked: “You’re…?”

“Yeah. Very much so. Actually, I’m also part of the LGBTQIA club here, so if you’re interested…”

“Ah, uh. I’m not…I don’t usually…” Alec stammered, old fears gripping him as she observed him.

“Hey, no pressure, dude. Just, if you want to, here’s a card, yeah?”

She slid him a card and stood up, grinning as she went back to her table.

Alec stared at the (hopefully intentionally) horribly colourful card for a moment, heart still racing with paranoia. The bottom of the card was signed Elise, with a smiley face next to it.

He looked up, trying to catch a glimpse of her, and met her gaze as he surveyed the room.

She waved, smiling. Alec raised a hand in return, too cautious to smile back.

He finished the rest of his drink caught in a more troubled sort of reflection.

\-------

Outside, Alec stuck his hands in his pockets yet again, playing with the card as he went.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when someone called his name, causing him to jump.

“Alec!”

Jace ws running towards him, cheeks red and curls glowing golden. Alec felt his heart seize up painfully with the remainders of an old crush.

In his pocket, the card seemed to burn his fingers.

“Hey, Jace.”

Jace stopped by him, grinning, his breaths clouding the air around them.

“Man, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? What are you up to these days?”

“Nothing exciting, I’m sure.” Alec said, perhaps a little too bruskely.

“Aw, dude, don’t be like that! I can’t be the only one gallivanting around of us Lightwood boys!” Jace laughed, nudging him conspiratorially.

“Yeah, I hear Max is making all the front covers these days.” Alec muttered.

Jace snickered, oblivious to the hidden insult if not to the sarcasm.

“Ah, man. Seriously though, where have you been at? I get that you’re busy and all, but jeeze. I miss talking to you!” His adopted brother’s tone grew more sincere as he went, making Alec want to jump off the nearest bridge in guilt and shame.

“You could try calling once in a while.” He said instead, keeping his voice monotone.

Jace gave him a look, then half a smile.

“Sure. Maybe one day you can even introduce me to your mystery girlfriend!”

Alec froze. “What?”

Jace laughed. “Yeah, act all innocent. Izzy told me you were going to bring some surprise date to our little Christmas party. I’m personally betting that it’s some Downworlder chick with a mohawk.”

Alec stared at him in abject horror and sharp betrayal. Of course Isabelle had told Jace. That way, if Alec failed to bring someone, his failure would be all the worse.

“Isabelle doesn’t always get her facts right.” He managed. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Wow, mysterious.” Jace drawled, mocking. “If it turns out to be some rich Bible-camp chick, I am going to be so disappointed.”

“Don’t worry,” Alec said, a heavy mood filling him. “It’s far from that.”

Jace rolled his eyes, about to reply, when his phone buzzed urgently. When he saw the screen, he groaned.

“Who is it?” Alec inquired, as Jace swiped the screen.

“Some gaylord from work. Guy’s a total idiot.” Jace said dismissively, before lifting the phone to his ear.

Alec looked at him for a moment, feeling faintly sick, before edging away as discreetly as possible.

His golden brother’s voice echoed after him as he walked.

“Hey, man. Yeah, no, sorry for not answering, but- Uh huh? Hmm. No, it’s just that we don’t have much time for incompetence, Gary.”

Alec wondered, bitterly, what it would be like to live in a world where “gay” was just an insult amongst others.

\-------

It was around three when he found himself wandering aimlessly through the parc near the campus.

Usually, he would have been more alert, but his thoughts had turned darker than usual, so instead he only noticed the tell-tale signs of danger when it was too late.

It was the voice that alerted him, a tad too high and panicky.

“…Let me go! Leave me alone!”

Alec whirled around, spotting the group almost immediately. He swore under his breath.

A group of older, smirking, vaguely inebriated students was surrounding one of the younger students on campus. Alec scanned them once- there were about twelve, all rich frat boys with smug faces and a mean look to them.

“Aw, look. You scared, kid? Not so smart now, are you?”

“I didn’t do anything to you! Leave me alone!”

The group was advancing on him. Alec was left with two options: leaving as fast as possible, or confronting them.

“Nah, I think I’m going to stay around for a while, just like your mom does after she-”

“Leave my mom out of this, you piece of shit!”

The group stilled. Alec groaned internally.

Without warning, the main douchebag swung a fist at the kid, sending him reeling backwards and clutching his face. The guy didn’t have the greatest punch, but he swung hard. The group howled with laughter as their victim staggered, crowding around him with sharp smiles.

A group of onlookers had formed, some grinning in approval and some scowling in protest, but none seemed to be about to interfere.

Alec sighed, brushed his hair out of his eyes and strode forcefully over to them.

“Hey! Leave the kid alone.” Jace and Isabelle would both have said something cool, like _pick on someone your own size, asshole,_ but Alec didn’t have the time for putting on a show.

He felt the public’s eyes turn to him, keeping his gaze firmly on the group’s apparent leader.

The guy gave a mocking laugh, his group snickering with him. Alec kept glaring at him.

“Your boyfriend coming to save you?” Main dipshit asked the kid, who cowered. “What are you going to do, pretty face? Beat me up?”

“Not if you leave him alone.” Alec said, simply, ignoring the laughter his statement provoked.

“And what if I don’t?” Main dipshit leered, glancing back at his public, enjoying his little show. For good measure, he gave his prey of the day a kick to the shin.

Alec sighed.

“You had to ask.”

Before the other man had had a chance to respond, Alec launched himself at him, slamming his elbow into his stomach. The guy doubled over in pain, before giving a furious cry and swinging his fist, aiming for Alec’s nose. Instead, Alec grabbed his arm, shot down, and slammed him over his shoulder onto the ground, which he hit with a loud bang. The crowd gasped.

As the guy lay in pain on the floor, clutching the back of his head, the rest of his group advanced angrily on Alec, shouting. Three of them stepped forward as the rest hung back, throwing themselves at him in a confused mess. Alec ducked; letting two of them slam into each other as he socked the other in the jaw. Unfortunately, this fellow appeared to be less inebriated than the first, as he hit back quickly enough to hit Alec hard on the cheek.

Alec stumbled back, recovering in time to jerk his leg up and kick the guy’s knee. The two others, however, grabbed him from behind as the crowd shouted. Alec gritted his teeth, using his strength to bend down slightly, enough to wrap his leg around one guy’s angle and twist, causing him to trip forwards and loosen his grip. Alec pulled away, quickly bringing his head up to smash against the second guy’s jaw. His head stung in protest, but the other guy dropped him completely, cursing in panic at the sickening crunch and resulting flow of blood that his broken nose caused.

Alec jumped aside as one of the other buffoons tried to grab him from behind again, punching the guy once in the gut to make sure he didn’t consider rejoining the fight.

The guy cried out in pain, almost running backwards to get away, as Alec felt someone kick him hard in the leg. He stumbled, twisting around in time to block the next blow coming his way, as the two other guys glared at him. One of them sent out a heavy blow that caught Alec by surprise, hitting him on the side as he moved away a little too slowly. In response, he sent out a rapid series of hits that miraculously caught the guy in the ribs, just as he dodged the second guy’s angry fist.

He managed to fold in half and slam his head into the guy’s stomach, sending him falling onto his ass and yelling out in pain, while second guy’s next attempt whistled over his head.

However, with three of his friends down and the rest now firmly moving away, the last remaining student was enraged- the shouting crowd did nothing to calm him down. Before Alec had even turned his way, the guy had sent him flying backwards, falling onto the ground with a heavy thud. Shit.

The guy jumped on him, hitting blindly and heavily at everything he could reach. Alec gasped in pain, doubling over, head ringing. Still, he was much more resistant than he looked- and more flexible. Arching his back, he managed to wrap a leg around the guy’s torso, using all his strength to keep him away and flip them over.

The guy hit the ground still fighting, managing to grab Alec’s throat as he attempted to straighten. Alec choked, inhaling deeply through his nose as his air started thinning. Fuck.

At this point, he had no option but fighting dirty- internally wincing, he brought his knee up until it was aligned with the guy’s groin, and brought it down. Hard.

The guy released him, letting out a strangled scream as Alec gasped for air, vision blurry with automatic tears.

Alec took a shuddery gasp, then snapped his mouth shut. The pain would only last so long- he had to act quickly. Drawing back a fist, Alec caught the other’s panicked stare, but it was too late.

With a resounding crack, his fist slammed into the man’s face, making him shriek in pain.

Stiffly, Alec pulled himself off his howling victim and stood up. Around him, the three other guys he had fought were still where he’d left them, in various semi-sitting positions, with the latest addition still flat on his back. All four fell silent when he stood up, clutching at different injuries. Their friends had retreated a good distance away, and the crowd had hushed.

Alec raised a brow, sneer apparent in his voice. “Anyone _else_ want to go bother him?”

Stunned silence greeted him, some of the now-sober crew even shaking their heads quickly.

He looked around, ignoring the aching and burning all over his body. The young student from earlier was staring at him in horrified awe.

Alec nodded at him, waved sarcastically at the large group of spectators with their phones out, and turned sharply on his heel, starting to walk away from them.

When he’d walked a safe distance away, one of the four he’d fought with shouted after him, vaguely hysterically: “You won’t get away with this- just wait until my father hears about it!”

Alec cursed to himself, then sighed. Of course.

Turning around slowly, waiting for the video crew to get a good shot of him, he smiled, almost a smirk, very conscious of the blood dripping from his mouth and down his face.

“Well,” Alec said, smile as sharp as his voice, “Tell him Alec Lightwood sends his regards.”

And with that, as a collective gasp rose from the onlookers, he turned decisively and walked away.

\-----

Walking away with a straight back and his head held high only lasted until he was certain he was out of sight.

Wincing, he then stopped, taking a look at himself.

Luckily, nothing seemed to be broken. Alec was rusty, not untrained. He was aching a lot, though, especially on his face, neck, and side. He lifted his shirt and winced at the huge, angry, red bruise that was already turning purple around the edges. That was going to sting for a while.

The rest of his chest was also covered in slight scratches and various bruises, and there was a nasty, dark red scratch from where the guy had pummeled him when he’d been thrown down. His hipbone was also covered in bruises.

Gingerly, he lifted a hand to his face. That didn’t feel too great, especially seeing as he was still kind of bleeding. He took his phone out from his pocket- miraculously, it was intact.

Shit. There was a bright bruise on his cheek and jaw from the first hit, and others around his eyes. The one guy’s ring had caught him above his eyebrow, and the cut was still bleeding, blood dripping down his face ominously. His mouth was also covered in red, blood still bubbling out of it when he breathed hard. His teeth were, thankfully, intact.

His breathing, already painful due to his mouth, was rendered worse by his sore neck and throat. The bruises there probably hurt the most, purplish fingerprints contrasting starkly with his skin.

_At least nothing is broken_ , Alec thought wryly, blinking hard to get the world back in focus. It was imperative that he didn’t lose concentration- if he was, somehow, concussed, passing out near the edge of the road next to some stupid park probably wasn’t the greatest idea.

Lowering his phone and shaking his head rapidly, Alec turned to head back up to campus. With every step, another jolt of pain went through him. He sent a rapid prayer of thanks up for his high level of tolerance, because otherwise he was pretty sure he’d have passed out by guy number three, if only from fatigue. He’d not been in a fight in ages, let alone against four people.

God, he needed to stop this bleeding- he should probably pass by the Starbucks again and use their toilets or something, but he didn’t think he’d remain unnoticed in this state.

Some other students prowling the streets were already casting him concerned looks, prompting him to duck his head.

Head throbbing, he started walking faster, conscious of how much blood he was probably losing.

Breathing sucked.

Why did he ever bother trying to be nice? It only ever came back to slap him in the face.

He was so focused on reaching the campus and not keeling over that he didn’t even register someone’s presence in front of him until it was too late.

With a thump, Alec hit someone’s back, crying out in pain with a particularly vicious _“Son of a-”_ as his hands flew to his face.

The person turned around, annoyed and startled. “You know, there are ways of gaining someone’s attention- _Alexander?_ ”

Alec’s head shot up, eyes blurring with tears at the sudden movement. Magnus’ slanted eyes were wide with shock.

“ _Magnus_? Shit, sorry-”

“ _What_ in the name of every deity imaginable _happened_ to you?” Magnus interrupted, tone suprisingly concerned, moving as if to steady him.

Alec stumbled back, putting up his hands in defence. “I’m fine, seriously, the other guys look much worse.”

His attempts at humour didn’t seem to be working, because Magnus paled. “Other _guys_? _Who did this_ \- Nevermind that, we need to get you to a hospital!”

“ _No_!” Alec shouted, halting Magnus’ attempts to find a phone. “Don’t take me to a hospital, just- Don’t.”

His rather forceful shouting had stopped Magnus, but it had only made his head spin more.

It seemed that hitting your head against someone when you were walking at full speed didn’t do much to improve your physical condition after you’d been beaten up.

Wow, now he really was feeling dizzy.

“Don’t be ridiculous, we have to- Alexander? Alec? Alec!”

“’M fine.” Alec mumbled, even as he felt himself collapse.

_You are_ such _a dumbass,_ Isabelle’s voice snapped, as he started seeing white.

_I know_ , Alec thought, as someone grabbed his arms. _Believe me, Izzy, I do._

He passed out.

\------

“Don’t look at me like that, Chairman, the poor kid fainted, I couldn’t leave him out there in this state.”

\--

“Are you- do you actually _like him_? Impossible!”

\--

“Oh, for the love of- _really_? You choose this moment to be affectionate to my guests? When they’re bleeding out on my floor?”

\--

“I _know_ , Chairman, I _know_. We can go scratch their eyes out later, but first help me find some first aid kid. We have to have one _somewhere_ , right?”

\--

“I give up. I surrender. We have nothing but highly sophisticated scotch in this cabinet.”

\--

“…Well, deliveries usually take long, but I’m rich, young, hot and famous, so it should take about ten minutes. How’s the patient holding up?”

\--

“No, no, don’t- Ugh. Excuse my cat- yes, thank you, here’s your tip, have a lovely day, goodbye - No, really, just clear out- Good _bye_.”

\--

“What do I even do with this? Shove it up his nose? Eugh.”

\--

“Chairman, I regret to inform you that we would never survive if we were poor again.”

\-----

When he finally awoke, Alec was very confused, to say the least. He ached all over, and his face stung, and he felt like he’d run into a brick wall.

Plus he was lying on a sofa in a strange flat that was most definitely _not his_.

Before he could attempt to ninja flip out of the window, or something equally ridiculous, a pleased sound grabbed his attention.

Magnus, sitting nearby with his phone in his hand, beamed at him. “You’re alive! Good. The Chairman was just starting to insinuate my lack of medical skills had lead to your premature demise.”

Alec just stared at him.

Magnus’ hair was slightly ruffled, and his sleeves were rolled up, which unfortunately suited him very well, but otherwise, he looked perfectly normal- that is to say, not like a pain-induced hallucination.

“Don’t worry, you would have made a tragically handsome corpse.” Non-hallucination told him, still smiling.

“I-uh.” Alec begun, clearing his throat. Then, because he had no idea what to begin with: “Who’s the chairman?”

Magnus snorted and pointed to the end of the couch. Alec sat up on his elbows, wincing as he did so, and blinked at the very fluffy cat purring by his feet.

“Your…cat? Hang on, didn’t you say he was some kind of demon?”

Magnus scoffed. “He is, usually, when there’s anyone else around.” He shot Alec a glance. “Guess you’re a special case, Mr Lightwood.”

Alec bit his lip and looked back at where the cat lied, feeling oddly touched.

“Thanks for- you know.”

He felt too mortified to look at Magnus, and also too conflicted. His heart was doing painful things.

“It would have been much easier if you’d let me take you too a hospital.” Magnus said airily, waving a hand in dismissal, “But I am a man of many talents.” He paused. “Your freakishly strong physical capacities helped too, I suppose.”

“Well, thanks for that, too.” Alec mumbled, turning to look at Magnus, who was observing him with evident curiosity.

“You fight very well, Alexander. Quite the Internet sensation.”

When Alec turned white as a sheet, he rushed to correct himself: “In a _good way_! See for yourself!”

Magnus stretched his arm out towards him, waiting patiently as Alec carefully unfolded his arm to take the phone from him.

Alec’s manoeuvering was almost ruined when their fingers brushed, causing him to jolt and nearly throw the phone across the room.

Still, pulse racing, he managed to prop himself up against some cushions to get a proper look at the screen. A Youtube video titled “Eldest Lightwood sibling- campus hero!!!!” was paused on it, with a ridiculous amount of views.

Alec on screen was raising a hand in mock salute, smile almost predatory. He felt a thrill course through him at the sight of it. _I look like Izzy, or Jace_. Immediately, almost guiltily, he thought of his parents- what would they be saying?

“Your father has released a brief statement on Twitter about your action being the proof of Lightwood, inc.’s “long lasting integrity” and “defense of the weak”, or something along that vein.” Magnus said, as if reading his thoughts. His tone was faintly acerbic.

For Alec, who was an expert at reading in between the lines, his words practically dripped hatred.

Still, Magnus seemed to realize he’d slipped up when he caught Alec’s stare, quickly changing the subject.

“A lot of people are wondering where exactly Alec Lightwood learnt to fight like that.”

His tone was careful, eyes watchful.

“A lot of people can have fun wondering.” Alec retorted, setting his jaw.

Magnus watched him in silence for a moment, then asked: “I don’t suppose you’ll be needing help to extract revenge upon those four, then?”

Alec tilted his head, cautious. “I don’t see why I’d do that. I won the fight.”

Magnus actually laughed at that, incredulously.

“You- Oh, _Alexander_. They throw themselves at you four on one, and you say “it’s ok, _you won the fight”_. Do you ever cease to amaze?”

Alec let his head drop backwards onto the pillows, looking up at the fancy ceiling. “I’m really not all that amazing.”

“I’m really not all that convinced.” Magnus said back, sounding quite serious.

Alec turned his head to watch him, finding him looking straight at him. He opened his mouth to say something, then cursed loudly as it hit him.

“I was supposed to come here at four! What time is it now?”

“Four…thirty something, I believe.” Magnus said, looking amused.

“Ugh, god! I can’t believe this. I am _so_ sorry.”

The worst thing was that he actually was.

The previous day had been, well, fun.

Today, Alec had walked into Magnus bruised and bleeding, passed out, let him drag him to his flat somehow, laid there for ages as Magnus bandaged him, and been a general nuisance to one of the country’s main heart-throbs. Great.

“Don’t be.” Magnus shrugged, sounding quite sincere. “I’m just relieved you’re not too badly hurt.” His gaze turned critical. “Though I’d much prefer getting you examined by a professional.”

Alec frowned. “I’m good, thanks. I’ve had worse.” He reached upwards to feel the bandages, then looked at Magnus in surprise. “Besides, that hardly feels like it was done by a first-timer.”

It was Magnus’ turn to frown. “Lucky guessing, I’m sure.” His voice invited no discussion.

In that moment, Alec was as sure that Magnus had been in a couple of nasty fights himself as Magnus had been that Alec was hiding something about the source of his fighting skills.

“How did you even get me here?” Alec finally asked, tentatively.

“Magic, darling.” Magnus sing-songed, wiggling his fingers.

At Alec’s amused but unconvinced look, he rolled his eyes: “Taxi.”

“Do you-“

“No, Alexander, I _do not_ want you to pay me back. Let me casually remind you that I am, to quote the media, filthy rich.”

Alec snorted, letting it drop with vague unease. He knew that money was the least of Magnus’ worries, but still- he was prideful, and letting someone do all this _for him_ without paying them back somehow was unthinkable.

He was just screwing everything up, wasn’t he?

He realized, to his disgust, that his eyes were wet, tears of frustration threatening to spill down his cheeks. Instead, he sucked in a breath, forcing his eyes shut, and exhaling shakily.

“Are you all right?” Magnus asked, worry seeping into his voice along with a spot of panic.

“Fine.” Alec managed, voice thankfully wobble-free. “I’m used to ruining everything, don’t worry.”

He opened his eyes to find Magnus watching him in concern.

“I mean, not everything,” he rushed to correct himself, cursing his own honesty. “I’m glad I met you, at least.”

Instead of making Magnus nod and look away, as he’d hoped, he watched curiously as Magnus froze, gold-rimmed eyes wide.

“I-” Magnus said, blinking rapidly and clearing his throat. Alec suddenly realized with a thrill that his ears had turned faintly pink.

He’d accidently made _Magnus Bane_ blush. Wow.

His incredulous triumph was somewhat lessened when he realized that a (even slightly) flustered Magnus was a very cute one, and his own throat dried.

They sat there in silence, staring at each other while Alec’s heart danced the salsa and his brain melted, until the cat, whose presence he’d forgotten, suddenly let out a loud mewl.

Magnus coughed, flicking the TV on rather aggressively, as Alec looked at his hands intently, cheeks aflame. He’d been used to being blunt, and nowadays also to being sarcastic- _this_ situation was not in his repertoire.

Before he could retreat into himself, Magnus made a victorious sound. Alec looked up just in time to see the last of Downtown Abbey’s opening credits fade.

“Dowtown Abbey? _Really_?”

“I hope you’re not insinuating you have something _against_ it, Alexander, because-”

“No, no, of course not.” Alec said innocently, a grin spreading across his face. “I just didn’t think- Actually, no, I totally see it now. Of course you love Downtown Abbey.”

Magnus scoffed, not bothering to hide his own smile. “Well, if you’re staying here, you’re watching Downtown Abbey with me. Come here, you can’t see from there.”

Alec swallowed, then pushed himself up slowly. His legs were OK, apparently, so he stepped over to the other couch and sat down carefully, on Magnus’ left. Then, slowly, he let himself sink into the pillows Magnus had moved to his side, turning so that he was facing Magnus and bringing his knees up to his chest, before tilting his head back to the screen.

Magnus shot him a look, then grabbed a blanket Alec swore he’d conjured out of nowhere and threw it over them.

Alec spent the next three hours watching a Christmas Holiday special huddled up under a blanket next to Magnus Bane, aching all over and considerably more happy than he’d been in a while.

\----

When the shows’s final credits scrolled onscreen, Magnus and Alec were both sitting considerably closer to each other than Alec had originally intended to sit, and Alec himself was also considerably more invested in the show than he’d been.

“Can they not just let Bates and Anna be happy for once? Why does this keep happening?” Alec groaned, burying his head in his knees, which were still brought up to his chest.

He’d somehow gone from lying against the sofa’s arm to sitting next to Magnus and kind of leaning on _his_ arm, a fact which had escaped his notice until now.

Magnus laughed, moving slightly to mute the TV, before casting Alec an amused glance. “You seem to be taking this to heart.”

Alec looked up from his knees to give him a half-hearted glare. “I get invested in period-typical drama very easily.

Magnus raised his hands in mock apology, the gesture making Alec shift slightly. “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. You just seem like such a serious person.”

“I am a serious person.” Alec said, matter-of-factly, sitting up straighter. He was sarcastic, sure, but mostly just boring, as Jace and Izzy never tired of reminding him.

Around his closest friends, he was more relaxed, wittier, less worried even- but in general? Alec was just a pessimistic, dry, dead-pan sort of person.

“That’s not a bad thing either.” Magnus smiled at him, making Alec’s stomach do flips.

“It is when you’re family with Jace and Isabelle.” Alec sighed, cracking his neck. “Still, I guess _one_ of us needed to be the silent, sulky, stick-up-the-ass type.”

“You’ll forgive me for not quite agreeing with that definition.” Magnus said, half-joking and half-serious. “From what I’ve seen, you have quite the array of tones and expressions, none of which really correspond to your previous statement.”

“Yeah, well.” Alec grumbled, his cheeks tinted with red yet again. “I act different around you.”

He winced internally a few seconds later, realizing that this was probably yet another thing that normal, socially adept people didn’t say to people they barely knew. Isabelle groaned in his head.

And Magnus wasn’t saying anything. _Great job, dipshit._

Shooting a cautious look at him through his eyelashes, he froze upon realizing that this time Magnus’ ears were _most definitely_ red, and that he was watching him with a strange expression that made Alec want to run, far, far away. Or kiss him. He really wasn’t sure what was going on in his head, other than vague screaming.

“Well, it’s seven forty. I’m guessing you want to head home.” Magnus said, briskly, standing up abruptly. Alec almost had a heart attack at the sudden movement, gripping the sofa in order to avoid falling off it.

“Ffff- a little warning, next time?” Alec hissed, as all his injuries stung in protest.

Magnus, who’d been busy smoothing out wrinkles on his shirt, turned around, starting guiltily at Alec’s wince. He seemed to relax slightly, movements becoming less stiff and expression less tense.

“Ah, _great_ \- I’m sorry, are you okay?”

“’M fine.” Alec repeated, for the umpteenth time that day.

Magnus sighed, running a hand through his hair and giving him an apologetic smile. “You probably want to tell your roommate you’re alive _before_ I drop you off. I’m sure he’s seen the video by now.”

Alec pulled a face at the reminder of his Internet fame, but shrugged. “I doubt he’s had much Internet access today. His mother is kind of overbearing.”

“His mother?”

“Yeah,” Alec said, carefully standing up. “He’s gone home for Christmas- hey, do you know where my phone…?”

He trailed off at the look on Magnus’ face.

“Uh, I mean, if you don’t know where my phone is, that’s fine, you know, I’ll just-”

“ _What do you mean, “he’s gone home for Christmas”?”_

Alec stared at him, completely baffled by the thunderous expression on Magnus’ face.

“Uh. I would have thought that was pretty clear.”

Magnus’ eyes narrowed even more. “Let me rephrase that: were you implying that you were _about to go home alone_ in _this_ state?”

_Oh. Ok._ Alec’s brain said, momentarily stunned.

“I…yes?” Alec managed, before frowning. “I know it looks bad. But I’ve dealt with worse.”

Wrong thing to say, apparently, because Magnus’ eyes flashed.

“Oh, yes! And that’s so marvellously reassuring, isn’t it?” In a high-pitch, he mimicked: “Don’t worry about these injuries! Last time, I almost died!”

Alec scowled. “I’d much rather bleed out than go anywhere near a hospital, so don’t even consider-”

“I don’t know if this has ever occurred to you,” Magnus said, horribly sarcastic, “But hospitals are _good_ for you.”

“Not for everyone.” Alec snapped back.

“I’m _not_ letting you spend the night alone.” Magnus gritted out. “I’ll drop you off at your sister’s flat, or brother’s, just give me the address-”

“ _No_!” Alec shouted, fists clenched. “Are you _insane_? They’re both going to be impossible about this- and besides, I can’t-” He made a frustrated noise.

They glared at each other for a moment, both stubbornly refusing to relent. As nice as it was of Magnus to worry, Alec absolutely refused to go near a hospital, or to see his family. Both would be disastrous.

Besides, he was sick of people judging him incapable of taking care of himself.

Suddenly, Magnus’ anger seemed to fade, turning into a cautious glance around them. Alec remained on the defensive as he waited.

“You could- you _could_ just stay here.” Magnus said, almost hesitantly.

Alec’s fists unclenched. “ _What?_ ”

“I do have spare beds, you know.” Magnus said rather pointedly, raising a brow. Alec glared, refusing to show that he had, indeed, slightly misunderstood his previous statement.

“I don’t need a baby-sitter, Magnus.”

“Do I _look_ like I want to baby-sit people?”

Alec was silent, weighing the pros and cons of his possible decisions.

Magnus rolled his eyes: “Look, I promise I don’t molest children and/or watch you sleep, depending on what your parents told you. I just don’t want you passing out somewhere in your flat and lying there comatose for three days.”

Alec, still reluctant, considered him. “You’ve known me for _two days_.”

At that, Magnus grinned: “Alec, I usually know people for much less than that when they sleep here, if you catch my drift.”

Alec did.

“Do you have a spare toothbrush, then?” He asked instead of answering any previous questions, marvelling at the situations he kept stumbling into as Magnus smirked.

“Sure. Do you like pizza? I’m not bothered to try and cook now.”

“Uh, if you don’t mind. I’m paying, though.”

Magnus frowned at him, but conceded when he caught Alec’s stubborn expression.

Grabbing his phone and rapidly tapping on the screen, he looked up: “What should I get you?”

“Doesn’t matter…Something with ham, maybe.” Alec answered, relaxing his posture and sitting down again.

“ _Something with ham, maybe_?” Magnus parroted, looking disgusted. “For shame, Alexander!”

“What are you having, then?” Alec asked, sputtering.

“Hmm. Probably pizza with figs, blue cheese and _prosciutto crudo_.” Magnus mused, fingers hovering over the screen.

It was Alec’s turn to be disgusted, or more specifically, stunned. “You- on _pizza_?”

_Pizza isn’t supposed to be a sophisticated meal!_ Jace roared in his head, cheering him on. _Punch him!_

Alec shook his head.

“I like to be pretentious when ordering any foods, thank you.” Magnus sniffed haughtily, before cracking a grin. “But I suppose I can be converted. I haven’t had proper junk food in a while.”

“Give me that.” Alec said, with sudden resolve, grabbing the phone from him. “Two….margheritas…with…Ben and Jerry’s….cookie dough….and…caramel brownie….yes…fast…”

He clicked the send button triumphantly as Magnus stared at him in horror.

“ _Two_ pizzas with _just cheese_? And _two_ pots of overly sweet ice cream?”

Alec nodded mock-seriously, feeling his lips twitch as Magnus brought a hand to his forehead dramatically.

“ _Oh rage, oh désespoir!_ ” Magnus exclaimed, his tone just tragic enough to reassure Alec that he was joking.

“Do you actually speak French, or did you just learn a lot of pretentious quotes to use randomly?”

“ _Les deux_.” Magnus grinned, smile vaguely predatory. “ _Mais ça aide surtout pour séduire des gosses comme toi._ ”

_Dam, that’s hot._ Isabelle sighed. _What a dick!_ Jace shouted.

Alec just gave him a look.

Taking mercy on him, Magnus switched back to English: “I know quite a number of languages.”

“Like what?”

“Indonesian, Dutch, French, and Italian, if we’re talking about my fluency.”

“You’re European, then?” Alec asked.

Funnily, the media was very fuzzy about Magnus’ childhood. Though speculations were wild, the only actual information they had was that he’d shown up age seventeen in New York and demanded his share of Bane, inc. When his father had died, a year or so later, Magnus had come in possession of the entire company.

Magnus nodded, a shadow passing over his face before he smiled. “Born in Jakarta, raised in the Netherlands, grew up everywhere else.”

“Huh.” Alec, once again, was overwhelmed by the mystery of Magnus Bane, and more specifically why on earth _Magnus Bane_ had chosen to share these details with him, of all people.

Instead of asking this, he questionned: “ _Y sabes hablar Español?”_

Magnus brightened. “ _Si, pero s_ _ólo un pocito._ I didn’t think you spoke Spanish.” He sat down next to Alec on the couch.

Alec shrugged. “Just because we’re American and white-washed by the media doesn’t mean que _no podemos hablar nuestra idioma._ _Es más fácil insultar a la gente de esta manera.”_

Magnus grinned. “Smart.”

“ _Gracias._ ” Alec quipped, before asking: “Fluent in five languages, though? That’s impressive.”

“I travelled a lot before coming here.” Magnus said, winking at him. “And I got to chat with a lot of very aimable people.”

“I’m sure.” Alec muttered, his train of thought interrupted when his gaze wandered over to the TV. “Wait, wait, is that me?”

“Oops.” Magnus said, unmuting the TV. On the (admittedly gossipy) news station, the anchor had just finished announcing todays’s highlights in what she called “celeb news”, and was starting on their number one scoop.

“…today also marked yet another of our favourite famous family’s achievements- and for once, it wasn’t Isabelle or Jace. Yup, you guessed it: another Lightwood’s won himself a moment of glory, and this time, it’s Alexander. The mysterious elder brother of our two well-known faves, Alec’s always kept himself out of the spotlight, with no such torrid affairs as his sister or brother.” Onscreen, paparazzi pictures of Jace and Isabelle were now floating behind the anchor as she winked conspiratorially. “Still, today, Alec’s gained himself quite a lot of attention- and in what a way! Stepping in to save a student from bullying, the oldest Lightwood shocked both the bullies and the world by revealing himself quite the fighter.”

The Youtube video from earlier begun to play. Alec watched, vaguely anxious and vaguely entertained, as his onscreen self suplexed some dude onscreen, then fought the others. The news report only included the best bits, apparently, so it skipped all the vague scuffles and went for the “someone’s nose gets broken” parts instead. “You’d think the bullies had learnt their lesson by then,” chirpy reporter exclaimed as she suddenly reappeared onscreen, “But the video doesn’t end there. Egos bruised, one of them just had to turn to threats, which finally revealed the identity of our little hero.”

Alec watched, silently, as the camera zoomed in on the guy on the floor shouting abuse and moved up in a blurry shot towards his face. His calculated silence had worked as planned, because he began to speak just when the camera had focused on his bleeding face. With a sardonic smile and a lazy confidence, TV Alec grinned through the blood and said, pleasantly: “Well, tell him Alec Lightwood sends his regards.” The person behind the camera gasped along with the crowd, shaky cam coming back with a vengeance before the video cut off.

“Gasping is pretty much what we all did at that moment, I think!” News anchor was saying, smile still firmly in place. “Those ninja skills don’t speak badly of young Mr. Lightwood, and his face helps too.” She winked, before continuing: “After all this time, Alec’s resumé seems to be pretty impressive: mysterious, stands up to bullies, huge badass, hot, witty, and just a _little_ bit cocky- just the way we like ‘em! It seems like the Lightwoods never cease to amaze…Our team even went to Alec’s flat to ask him a few questions, but we found no one home- let’s see if we can reach his phone…”

She smiled brilliantly at the screen just as Alec’s phone started buzzing on the counter nearby. Magnus grabbed it and handed it to him, where he stared in shock at the notifications for 36 messages and 12 missed calls on it, before reluctantly swiping the screen.

Magnus wiggled his eyebrows at him, and Alec resolved to play the media better than Jace and Izzy had ever done in their lives. _All you have to do is channel your inner Lightwood. Do like Dad and Izzy do._

“Hello, Alec speaking?”

Onscreen, the woman perked up. Alec’s photo was now on the screen behind her.

“Hi, Alec! This is Sam Davies, from E! news. We were wondering if you could answer a few questions for the public.”

Alec gave a little sigh. “Well, I’m currently a little occupied- company, you know- but I’m sure I can spare a few minutes.”

He could practically see the light flick on in her eyes.

“Company? I hope we’re not disturbing you…” Sam purred, begging for a scoop.

“Oh, no worries, I have the whole night to, ah, talk with them.” Alec said, lightly, as Magnus snickered.

“Do you, now?” Sam tittered, before continuing: “Well, Alec, I’m sure you’ve seen the news by now- what do you think about that video, then?”

“Ah, well,” Alec said, changing his tone to “aw, shucks”, “I have to admit I kind of hoped it wouldn’t go online. Wouldn’t want to bring to much attention to myself, you know.”

“Oh, but it was so brave! Do you know the victim, by any chance?”

“No, I can’t say I do. I just know how to throw a punch, and when it’s deserved.” Alec said, dryly.

Sam laughed. “Oh, wow, yeah. You sure can throw a punch! Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

Alec gave a sigh. “It’s a very long story, I’m afraid, but let’s just say I’ve had my share of troubles.”

“Now, that’s just not fair. Can’t you give us a little detail?”

Alec hummed like he was considering it, then said, enigmatically: “Well, to put it simply, diplomacy doesn’t always work when someone has a knife to your throat.” He kept his voice somewhere between earnest and sarcastic when he said it, just to appeal to all types when the recording inevitably ended up online.

Sam gasped, eyes wide, just as Magnus started laughing.

“Now that’s a story we’d like to hear! But coming back to this one- are you worried about those students’ threats? There were quite a number of them, after all…”

Alec snorted: “Yeah, but considering that the video is fairly clear in showing who’s guilty, I’d say the odds of them winning a court case would be as low as their collective IQ.”

Sam gave a startled laugh, then turned it into her TV titter. “Oh, _Alec_! You’re just as bad as your siblings.”

“Worse, I’m afraid.” Alec drawled, as Magnus’ shoulders shook helplessly with silent laughter. “But I don’t talk as much as they do. Do you have anymore questions?”

“Oh, one last one, then. Let’s talk business.” Sam sat up straighter. “Given the heavy tensions between your family’s company and, in particular, Bane industries, do you think some kind of conflict will arise?”

Alec shot Magnus a look.

“Honestly, I can’t say. I think Bane industries and our company are both excellent, in different ways, and I do feel as though some kind of compromise could be achieved- after all, we wouldn’t want some kind of scandal, would we?”

Sam nodded, clearly attempting to look thoughtful.

“Well, Alec, thank you so much for your time, and I hope we’ll be able to talk to you soon.”

“Next time I beat up some assholes, I’ll call you.” Alec dead-panned, hanging up as Sara’s mouth dropped open.

Magnus burst out laughing, wiping his eyes as Alec grinned.

“Who are you, Alexander Lightwood?” he managed, calming down. “Have I been decieved this entire time?”

“Sorry, no.” Alec replied, more seriously. “I don’t do that often. I suck at diplomacy.”

“Doesn’t look like it.” Magnus pointed out, still very amused.

“Yeah, but that’s just me copying the rest of my family. Jace and I are both terrible at being polite when it comes to this kind of thing- he just doesn’t care about manners, and I’m blunt to the point of being rude.”

“Oh, please. You’re very polite.”

“Not naturally. People just assume I’m polite because I’m quiet, when I’m actually just moody.”

“You do have an impressive glare.” Magnus conceded.

“See? All a disguise.” Alec replied, kind of smiling regardless.

“I like blunt people. They’re, ah, refreshing.” Magnus said, only slightly teasing.

Alec snorted. “Wow, great. Thanks.”

“Don’t fret, Alexander, if good looks can make up for your brother’s atrocious personality, then I’m sure your slight imperfections can be forgiven.”

Alec didn’t have much to say to that, so he just bit his lip and half-smiled down at his feet.

The pizza arrived ten minutes later, and although Magnus spent about five minutes trying to avoid eating it, they ended up finishing both, and the ice cream, as Magnus reluctantly admitted junk food wasn’t all that bad.

And then they talked some more, and more, until it was nine something and Alec’s head was starting to throb painfully.

By nine thirty, Alec was lying in bed in Magnus Bane’s apartment, just across the hall from him, bandaged and bruised and wearing a borrowed set of clothes. His entire body was hurting, his phone was probably going to explode from all the unanswered messages, he was kind of passing out, his hair was still wet from showering, anxiety was slowly creeping up on him, and, well...

He couldn’t stop smiling.

\---

“Chairman,” Magnus Bane said mournfully, observing the sleeping form of his guest from the doorway, “I stand by all previous statements concerning them: those Lightwoods are going to be the end of me.”

The Chairman meowed reproachfully, prodding his owner into action.

Magnus sighed, scooping him up and heading to his room with a last glance at Alec. “I know, I know. Not in the same way.”

He put the cat down on the floor, watching it with a thoughtful frown as it jumped contentedly onto his bed.

“I am _terrible_ at staying out of trouble.” Magnus groaned, before throwing himself down on the bed next to the animal. “ _Why_ did I have to have a type?”

The cat just gave him an unimpressed look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a ride!
> 
> A few comments:  
> -Yes, the Lightwoods are Latino in this story. "But, Qui, they're described as pale!" Well, a) this is a AU, after all, and b) there are a number of pale Latino, you know. "Why the hell would you want that?" Again, a) better POC representation and b) so they can gossip in Spanish. Come on.
> 
> -Now, in canon Magnus grew up in Jakarta before his dad flipped out and Magnus accidentally killed him, and was then raised in Spain by some monks or whatever. However, seeing as Magnus is not, in fact, an immortal demon child in this story, there was no reason for his father to attempt to kill him, and although I've adapted the family drama so it can still be used in the story, Magnus was therefore never raised by Spanish monks. Then there was the issue of where he grew up, but seeing as in canon Magnus spent most of his life in Europe before coming to the US, I figured I'd make him grow up there.
> 
> -Also yes, Asmodeus is a Wall Street businessman. (I know.)
> 
> -Alec, Jace and Izzy can, in fact, fight very well, for reasons that will be explained later on. Alec also has a strong hatred of hospitals. 
> 
> -Alec can, indeed, have that cocky Lightwood side to him, mostly at the worst time ever. Usually when he's about to get beaten up. Luckily, in this one instance, it was after he'd beaten someone else up.
> 
> -Alec and Magnus are both a little less jaded in this fic, because neither of them has lived through demons and deaths their entire lives. Magnus is also not 400 years old, which is why he's a bit more human here. 
> 
> I'm sure there are some things I've forgotten to explain, but I can't think of them now- feel free to leave a comment; it'll be much appreciated! 
> 
> Thanks so much to all the lovely people that have already commented, you guys are the best :) 
> 
> (Ah, et en passant, oui, je parle français, parmis d'autres! C'est juste que je sais pas trop qu'est ce que je pourrais bien écrire en fr, vu qu'il y a pas tellement de fans non-anglophones :P
> 
> ALSO: I wrote nearly 10k for this chapter I'm so done with myself


	5. a change of sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Simon didn’t reply for a moment, grinning at nothing in particular, before asking in the most obnoxious way he could: “So…Magnus Bane, huh?”
> 
> This time, Alec really did hang up on him.
> 
> Simon just laughed."
> 
> \----
> 
> In which a variety of characters connected by Alexander Lightwood think about a great many different things, and in which a much awaited event is heavily alluded to.
> 
> (Or: Magnus doesn't deserve the shit he puts up with, Simon has Thoughts about life and Alec, Jace has thoughts about his hair, Isabelle does very much not feel guilty at all, and Max kind of just misses the good old days. )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no update, but i'm alive!  
> Thanks to all for the fourteen (!!!!) commenters on the last chapter, you guys are much too kind (no, seriously, you are, i'm just inventing this story as i go). Seriously, you're awesome.  
> L'écureil and sharlatan are especially appreciated- people leaving such thoughful comments about some silly things i write never fails to make me grin stupidly at my screen.
> 
> A number of you have also commented on how much you love alec: believe me, so do I! Clearly, the logical decision to take was therefore to have almost no alec pov in this chapter! (i don't know either).

“That is,” Magnus told his cat very firmly, “The exact opposite of what is happening.”

His aforementioned cat gave him an unimpressed look.

Magnus sighed. “No, I’m not being stubborn. The Lightwood boy and I are _business partners_.”

_That,_ Chairman Meow pointed out by looking disdainfully at his paws, _Hasn’t stopped you before._

“Well, this is completely different. This- this is for revenge.”

At the doubtful look he received, the young entrepeneur set his jaw.

“Don’t forget what our ties with the Lightwoods are, Chairman.”

The cat made a huffy sound.

“ _Thank_ you.” Magnus said, although his mood had been somewhat soured.

He pushed himself off the stool he’d been sitting on to pour himself another cup of coffee.

Ugh. Manual work.

“The world would be a much better place if magic existed, I tell you.” Magnus mused aloud.

When his cat prodded his leg cautiously, he made a moue.

“Yes, yes, I know it’s gotten out of hand. I didn’t expect it to go this way either.”

Settling back down on the stool and taking a reflective sip of coffee, he continued: “It’s not my fault the boy is attractive. Besides, how was I to know there were _cute_ Lightwoods? I only ever knew about the other two, and they’re obnoxious.”

The Chairman hopped up onto the counter. _But_ he _isn’t._

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Magnus set his cup down and frowned. “It’s just so bizarre- I haven’t been- oh, nevermind. I just- he wasn’t supposed to grow on me, you know? I _like_ him. I honestly like him. This is terrible.”

_You should have just slept with him and ruined everything on the first day._ Chairman Meow purred contempuously.

“I _know_! Feelings are horrible. Zero out of ten, would not recommend.”

“Are you _talking to your cat_?”

Magnus turned around so fast he nearly fell of his chair.

Alec, looking ruffled, tired, sore and vaguely amused, was standing in the hall, squinting at the kitchen. He was dressed and ready, at least- Magnus didn’t think he could have stood the shock of Alec Lightwood in _his_ pajamas.

“Alexander; you’re awake. How pleasant. Do come take a seat.”

“You haven’t answered my question.” Alec retorted, walking over nevertheless.

Magnus pushed his nearly full coffee towards him before answering: “Of course I talk to the Chairman. How have you not noticed this yet?”

He stood to go and grab the cereal just as Alec took a seat and a gulp of coffee.

“I did notice.” Alec said, when he’d finished drinking. “I just thought it was another side effect of my pain-induced haze.”

Magnus snorted. “Delightful. Cereal? We have Special K and whatever this is.”

Alec shot the second box a dubious look. “I’ll stick with the Kellogs, thank you.” He sounded considerably more awake after the coffee.

Magnus obliged.

“So,” Alec said, cautiously, between bites, “I have a hundred unread text messages. And probably a million messages everywhere else.”

“Your Facebook and Twitter are going to be crowded.” Magnus replied, looking up from his phone from where he was perched against the counter. His own Facebook and Twitter already _were_ crowded- Alec’s little stunt was still trending.

He wondered, absently, when the memes would start filtering in.

“I guess. Izzy mostly checks those for me.” Alec said, breaking him out of his reverie. “I don’t really like Facebook.”

Magnus stared at him.

“Do you know, I don’t believe you could be more of an accidental hipster if you tried, Alexander.”

“I’m not a hipster.”

“Case in point.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “Either way, I should really head back to my flat.”

Magnus very pointedly ignored his immature urge to go “No, stay!” in favour of nodding.

“I’ll take the bus, though- I’m sure there’ll be paparazzi everywhere.” Alec continued, sounding miserable about it. (Magnus himself loved playing the paparazzi, but he had to admit he wasn’t too fond of them.)

Still, no point in decieving the kid with false promises that it would be easy.

“Good luck with that.” Magnus said cheerfully, stretching.

“Wow, thank you.” Alec grumbled, setting his spoon down. “I’m glad you’re being supportive.”

“You got yourself into this, Alexander!”

“Don’t remind me.”

\---

When Alec had gone, Magnus watched his dark figure disappear into the street before closing his curtain and giving a melodramatic sigh.

He was just about to go throw himself back onto the sofa and binge-watch romcoms when a cautious buzz caught his attention.

Leaning over to check the screen, the so-called “wizard of Wall Street” (he really hated newspaper nicknames sometimes) stilled and turned pale.

In a rare moment wherein he most certainly wasn’t classy and composed, Magnus hissed out a _son of a bitch_ as he took in the image on the screen.

Standing in front of his apartment, perfectly dressed and as beautiful as ever, was Camille Belcourt.

\---

“Simon! SIMON!”

“Mom, please, I’m allowed to sleep in just _once-_ ”

“It’s a boy called Alec! He wants to talk to you!”

At that, Simon jerked upright, swallowing a loud curse when his head hit the accursed bedframe.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!”

Stumbling down the stairs, Simon grabbed the phone from his mother’s hand.

“Thanks- Alec, what the hell?!”

“Uh. Hi.”

At the familiar voice, relief washed over him.

“I hate you so much right now.”

Walking to the hall, away from his mother’s curious eyes, Simon made a frustrated noise.

“Seriously, Alec, where were you? I was _worried_!”

“I’m sorry, really, I’m fine.”

“Right, sure, of course you are. I’m _sure_ you went to the hospital, as a rational human being would.”

The guilty silence confirmed his suspicions. Simon groaned.

“A _lec_!”

“I’m _fine_ , Simon. Seriously. I got bandaged and everything.”

Pinching his nose, the bassist sighed, before asking: “Okay, okay. So where the f- I mean, where the frick were you last night? I rang the flat a million times!”

“I know,” Alec responded dryly, “I think you broke the answering machine, along with the journalists.”

Simon forced himself not to laugh. “I’m waiting.”

“I slept at someone’s house, it’s fine.”

“You _what_?” Simon screeched.

“Not like that, jeeze, get your mind out of the gutter.” Alec spluttered. “I literally just slept there. As in sleeping.”

“Right.” Simon said, a tad embarrassed and a tad suspicious. “And who, pray tell, was this friend? Because I rang everyone I knew, and it wasn’t any of them.”

“…Someone.”

“I had to speak to your _mother_. Do you know how terrifying your mother is?” Simon hissed.

“Just someone, okay? I can’t tell you.”

Simon groaned. “Who the hell do- wait, wait. Is this your mystery date from the other day?”

“…No.” Alec finally said, which was pretty much the equivalent of shouting yes.

“Wow, way to have “literally just slept there”, Alec. I’m not wounded at all.” Simon drawled.

“I _did_!”

“Yeah, sure, and I don’t need glasses anymore.”

“I _did_ , Simon, Magnus and I aren’t-”

Alec made a horrified sound. Simon’s brain whirred.

“Who’s Magnus?”

“No one! It’s a nickname!”

“Magnus, Magnus, who-” Simon froze. “Holy _shit_.”

“No.” Alec said, resignedly and stubbornly.

“Holy _shiiiit_.”

“No.”

“It’s Magnus Bane. It is Magnus goddamn Bane.”                        

“No.”

“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this.”

“Don’t.”

“Alec, holy shit.”

“I’m not talking about this.”

“Alec, your families _hate_ each other. This is like, CEO world Romeo and Juliet, but with less pointless teen suicide and somewhat less creepy patriarchal domination.”

“You don’t say?” Alec snapped, sounding rather miserable.

Simon’s excitement lessened.

“It’s not like that, anyway- I asked him to be my date to the Christmas dinner so I could finally get one over my family.” Alec finally said.

“…You’re insane.”

Alec snorted. “Thank you.”

“No, I mean, just- wow. You sure you want to do that?"

“I’ve thought about it.” Alec sighed. “And yes, I kind of do.”

Simon remained silent, processing all the information.

_“_ Alec is _brutal_.” His brain supplied.

Simon rolled his eyes mentally.

And then it hit him.

“Wait a minute- if this is like, some twisted revenge plan, why were you even at his flat?”

“I wasn’t.” Alec muttered. “I mshjsggskldmqdkfjk.”

“You _what_?”

Alec didn’t reply.

“Alec, you did _what_?”

“I ran into him. Literally. And then passed out.” Alec managed.

“You-”

Simon couldn’t help it.

He started laughing.

“Yeah, hysterical, I know.” Alec said, bitterly.

Simon continued laughing.

“I’m hanging up on you.”

“No, no, sorry- so you’re fine, then? The guy actually helped you and didn’t do anything creepy?”

“Simon, you’ve seen the video.” Alec replied, the eyeroll evident in his voice. “Do you really think I would have let anyone get away with trying to do something creepy?”

“Fair enough.” Simon said, most of his anxiety finally dissipated. “That was pretty badass, though. And kind of scary.”

“Thank you.” Alec answered, sounding sincere. “I like to think so too.”

Simon didn’t reply for a moment, grinning at nothing in particular, before asking in the most obnoxious way he could: “So…Magnus Bane, huh?”

This time, Alec really did hang up on him.

Simon just laughed.

\----

After sending the eldest Lightwood about fifty texts confirming he wouldn’t tell anyone, Simon finally headed back into the kitchen.

“What did Alexander say?”

“He says he stayed at a friends’ house. He’s doing fine.”

“That’s good. I like him. I can’t believe he got into a fight.”

“Yeah, well, the other guys look much worse.”

“I know. I saw the video. That horrid May from Elder street keeps sending me these scandal videos.”

“Mom, why are you even looking at those?”

“Morbid curiosity, I’m afraid.”

Simon snorted, leaning against the doorframe as his mother put the last plate away.

After a pause, she continued, lightly: “You know, he’s a very handsome boy.”

“Mom…” Simon said, warningly.

“What? I’m just saying. And, you know, if you are-”

“Mom, for the milionth time, I’m not gay!”

She sighed. “Well, I can dream. He sounds like such a nice boy…”

Simon groaned. “Seriously, you _know_ about the whole Clary thing.”

At that, she tutted. “Yes, I do. And I think it’s high time you get over it.”

Simon spluttered. Before he could even reply, his mother raised a warning hand.

“I like Clary very much, but you two are like siblings. It wouldn’t work.”

Simon scowled. His mother raised a brow.

_You win this one, birthgiver._

“I,” he announced, “Am going for a walk.”

“Buy me some oranges while you’re at it, okay? I want to press some fresh juice- there’s a ten dollar bill somewhere on the counter by the door.”

Simon didn’t bother to respond.

\-----

The scenery outside was far from an ideal Christmas décor. Although it was cold and the air was crisp, the skies had turned grey, and the snow they’d had a week ago had long turned into unappealing, dirty slush.

Simon hoped distantly that it would snow- although he himself didn’t celebrate Christmas; it was such a big deal to everyone, and he liked the picturesque Hollywood-style festive mood that people associated with it. Snow and colourful lights and gingerbread houses.

Rebecca was coming to visit in a few days, also taking advantage of the festive season to drop by. Simon wondered just how long it would take to convince her not to try and meet Alec- his sister was horribly curious, and invested in the media. As smart as Becca was, she also indulged in reading gossip magazines, so there was no way she hadn’t heard about the fight.

Simon shoved his hands more deeply into his pockets, allowing his thoughts to wander. He liked taking walks when no one else was out- a cold, dreary winter morning was the ideal setting for his introspective walks.

His glasses were steaming up again.

Alec and Magnus Bane, huh. Now that was a revelation.

The fact that his roommate was Alec Lightwood was still bizarre to him- even more so now that he and Alec were good friends. Or, well, he considered Alec a good friend.

The Lightwood was a little too broody and reserved to ever make it clear where Simon stood in his very exclusive group of close friends, but Simon figured Alec and he were pretty close.

Still, Alec was Alec- it was strange thinking of him as Alec Lightwood.

The whole fight thing yesterday had kind of disturbed Simon, and not because of Alec’s yet unexplained capacity to wreck someone’s shit. The mediatization surrounding the event, however, had reminded him strongly that Alec wasn’t just a slightly odd college student, but rather a celebrity.

Alec was his roomate who didn’t even realize a girl was coming on to him when she gave him her number.

Alexander Lightwood came from an absurdly long line of aristocrats.

Alec was the guy who dissolved into muttered Spanish cursing when his favourite character died in Game of Thrones.

Alexander Lightwood was the first in line to inherit the massive corporation his parents owned.

Alec hated olives with a passion, never bothered to wear anything but black, and spouted random legal talk over breakfast. Alec had a suprisingly high alchohol tolerance, and Simon had to this day never seen him more than buzzed, even after the one time Simon’s bandmates had come over and pulled him into their drinking game. Alec listened to the most obscure hipster bands ever known to man, and then also to Nicki Minaj. Alec knew the script of Captain America: the Winter Soldier by heart, and Alec got emotional when dogs died in movies.

Alexander Lightwood was a near-stranger who would probably have a larger impact on American society as a whole than everyone else Simon knew put together.

Simon huffed out a long, reflective exhale.

It was kind of a Captain America thing, actually. Bucky and Winter Soldier.

Simon liked Alec a lot, but overall, even more than he was kind of scared of him, he felt bad for Alexander Lightwood.

Obviously, he knew they weren’t actually two separate people, but Alec’s behaviour changed so radically when he was in the public eye or with his parents that it was like he had a secret identity.

_Now he’s Clark Kent, now he’s Superman._

Simon snorted, failing to imagine his sober and deadpan roommate in a brightly coloured spandex suit.

He paused to take off his glasses and wipe them against his coat.

When he resumed walking, it was Magnus Bane he thought about.

Magnus Bane was a living legend, the stuff of Hollywood movies. Everyone knew who he was, regardless of their very mixed opinions. Simon had always thought the guy was pretty cool, although kind of extravagant and also kind of intimidating.

But Magnus Bane was Magnus Bane.

With his glamour and glitz lifestyle, Magnus Bane was about as far away from Simon as you could get.

Except for the surreal part, wherein he and Alec had somehow met and were now going to fake date. Or something.

Simon’s life, he reflected, contained way too many famous people and way too few explanations.

Magnus and Alec, though…That was just weird. Simon didn’t doubt that Alec was determined enough to make it work, but the two just seemed so radically different…

What did they even talk about?

“Why yes, look at us! Isn’t it splendid to be filthy rich and young and attractive? Say, Jeeves, do bring us more chamapgne!”

Simon had no idea why the hideously out of character conversation had just entered his brain, including the monocles and random, excessively British accent.

Still, he supposed the Lightwoods did have a suspiciously British accent for a Latino family that had been implanted in the US for ages.

The Lightwoods had a weird background.

The thing was, Simon was also pretty sure Alec wasn’t straight. They’d never mentionned it, and Alec didn’t exactly “flaunt it” (not that Simon believed you could _act_ “gay”, but you know). Besides, Simon had never pushed it, because a) he wasn’t a raging douche b) it was none of his business c) it didn’t matter and d) he himself kind of stumbled more into the bi category than the straight one.

(And ok, maybe he had at one point in time made that last discovery because of a _very faint_ crush on said roommate, but no one ever had to know about _that_.)

At the end of the street he’d been walking on, a small supermarket’s bright lights caught his eye. Simon fingered the ten dollar bill in his pocket.

Well, he _was_ starting to get cold, so…

\----

Jace was getting pretty tired of the weather.

He was used to getting out and disappearing after his numerous one-night stands, but his discreet exits weren’t exactly aided by the wet, slippery ground and the generally moody people in the area.

He’d left Jenna’s (Jemma? Whatever) flat at about eight, gotten a taxi to drive him to the opposite end of the city, and wandered around in hopes of finding food.

So here he was, alone in an overly bright supermarket with a dirty floor and neon lights that hurt his head. Hangovers sucked.

Not that Jace got drunk very often- he liked a drink, sure, but he didn’t like losing control, and besides he wasn’t actually all that great at handling alchohol.

A secret that could never get out.

Jace gave a long sigh as he observed the poor variety of food in front of him. All he wanted was some junk food, honestly. He wasn’t asking for a tofu cupcake or something equally ridiculous.

He moved his eyes away from the food and toward his own reflection. Eugh. He needed to find a hairbrush.

Not that he looked bad, of course. Jace himself was the first to admit his physical appearance was far from lacking, and his hair was just the cherry on top of the hot bod. Jace’s life motto, as Isabelle liked to aptly describe it, was something along the lines of “yeah, I have daddy issues and repressed angst, but we all know I’m a thousand times hotter than you, so I’m just going to carry on pretentiously playing Bach while you’re around”.

If you added in a lot of stereotypical “Hollywood child-star gone wrong” type behaviour, like the excessive partying, getting into fights and sleeping around, you’d have a pretty good summary of Jace.

The door to the supermarket swung open with an annoying jingle; startling Jace enough to make his fingers get tangled in his hair where he’d been trying to comb it through.

Wincing, he turned to glare at the guy who’d just entered the shop.

His sneer went unappreciated, sadly, because the hipster looking brunet was too busy rubbing his hands together.

The guy looked vaguely familiar, too. Jace would have assumed he’d seen him at a party or at a business thing, but he didn’t look like the type to be at either of those.

Maybe he was one of Izzy’s ex-boy-toys. He could see her going for the dorky type once in a while.

Satisfied with his explanation, Jace turned his glance away from the other man and resumed his search for junk food. It didn’t take him too long to finally spot the chips and candy, so he grabbed a pack of Doritos and a tube of M&Ms and hauled his (very attractive) ass over to the counter.

Izzy boy number five hundred and fifty was already in line, waiting for the zombiefied employee to scan his single bag of oranges.

When he noticed Jace, his face went through a rapid series of emotions before settling on vague surprise.

“Oh. Hi.”

“If it’s to know if she wants you back, the answer is no. As in, never.” Jace said, maybe a little too mean for a shitty winter morning.

The guy looked confused, then scowled. “I’m not- I don’t even know your sister!”

“Really now?” Jace drawled, just a little bit patronizingly.

This seemed to irk the other even more. “Yes, really. I mean, I’ve met her like once and seen her on TV or whatever, but- ugh. Nevermind.”

The cashier had just now appeared, and was slowly walking over to the counter. Jace, who had little patience, wondered if he was currently in his adopted father’s good graces- surely he wouldn’t have to do much to cover up the murder of some random supermarket cashier?

Still, he was faintly intrigued by the apparent stranger’s link to him.

“Well, if it’s for an autograph, the answer doesn’t change. I have no pen, sadly, and my lips are nice enough that I don’t carry lipstick on me at all times.”

Now, the stranger was definitely getting pissed. Good.

“As if I would want an autograph from such a di- ugh. Listen, I’m Alec’s roommate, okay?” As Jace’s brain made a loud “oh” of understanding, the guy continued, scowl turning even more disdainful. “Sorry for daring to interrupt your alone time with such dreary politeness. I’ll be sure to keep my plebian language away from your precious ears.”

Once he’d said it, of course, Jace suddenly matched his face very clearly with Alec’s nerdy roommate. Sebastian or something.

Sue him for not remembering, honestly. He was rarely at Alec’s anyway, and he’d met the guy very briefly. Still, he seemed to recall him being just as unfriendly.

“Calm down, Samuel. It’s not like we had an in-depth conversation.” Jace replied, bored again now that the mystery had been solved.

“It’s Simon, actually.” Simon snapped, before handing over a crumpled ten dollars to the increasingly moody employee and taking the bag from him.

Jace rolled his eyes. “Great. So how’s Alec recovering from his little exploit?”

At that, Simon turned around from where he’d been about to start leaving.

“Fine, apparently. I wouldn’t know, seeing as he wasn’t with me last night.”

Jace paused. What.

“He wasn’t?”

“No, he wasn’t. Maybe if you’d bothered trying to talk to him…” Simon said, rather nastily.

Jace flushed angrily. “I did, _Stewart_. He didn’t reply, so I figured he was with you.”

He didn’t mention that it was worry over his pseudo-brother’s situation that had partly caused his drunken escapade.

“Good thing he wasn’t with you, then. You’d probably have “figured” he was fine and let him bleed out.” Simon replied, glaring. “No wonder he didn’t tell you where he was.”

At that, Jace gritted his teeth. The asshole had struck a nerve.

The fact that Alec had called his roommate and not his family didn’t help either.

“Listen here, Stanley, your obvious incompetence at life in general doesn’t mean you have to take it out on those who haven’t failed at it so miserably.” Jace bit out, turning eloquent in his anger, as he was prone to doing.

Then, catching himself, he faltered: “Where _was_ Alec?”

Simon, whose eyes promised an equally sarcastic and spiteful reply, was caught off guard.

For a moment, he hesitated, and then his face hardened.

“That,” Simon said pointedly, in a tone that made Jace want to strangle him, “Is for Alec to tell you. And if he hasn’t, well…”

He trailed off, before turning on his heel and walking out.

Jace seethed.

“Sir? Your food, please.” The employee asked, in a tone so flat and emotionless it didn’t even sound like a request.

“Oh, fuck you too!”

\------

You could say what you wanted about Isabelle Lightwood, but you couldn’t deny she had style. Grinning at her own success, this very thought flashed briefly through her mind as she clicked the “end call” button on her phone.

“Dad?” Isabelle called, voice echoing through their large library.

“Dad, I’ve got work news for you!”

Her father sighed distantly before his shoes started tapping bruskely against the floor.

Isabelle waited, phone still in her hand and lips curled in a pleased smirk.

Mr Lightwood Senior, looking exaspereated and stern as always, stopped by the door of the library to rearrange his tie.

Isabelle swerved her chair around slightly as he came down the stairs.

“What is it, Isabelle?”

“Guess who just secured a deal with Seelie Inc?”

Robert Lightwood gave her an incredulous look.

“Admittedly, it’s rather shaky, and it’s only at a low level, but…” Isabelle continued, allowing her smirk to grow.

Her father’s shocked expression turned almost proud.

“Isabella- this is extremely good news!”

At the very rare use of the Spanish version of her name, Isabelle smiled, but something started to nag at her.

Her father was talking again, about stock value and needing details and statistics, but Isabelle had spaced out.

Isabella…Isabella…When was the last time she’d heard that?

Her father really didn’t call them anything Spanish at all- and yet, some obscure memory was urgently demanding to be remembered.

_Escuchame, Isabella. This isn’t going to get me in trouble, okay? You just have to keep it quiet._

“…sabelle?”

Her father’s actual voice jerked her back from her stupor.

“Sorry?”

“I said, who did you talk to?”

Shaking off her discomfort, she scrambled to remember: “Oh, ah, a man named Meliorn, I think.”

“Meliorn…I see. You’ve done well.”

“Thanks, dad.”

Her father gave her a brief smile, before his phone started ringing.

“Robert Lightwood speaking? Oh, Peter, hello. No, no, you’re not bothering me. So about those reports…”

Isabelle gave a sigh, still unsettled, and pushed herself off the chair. She was done working for the day, anyway.

As always, her heels clacked on the tile floors as she went up to the first floor. Max was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, completely engrossed in a book he was reading.

As she often did, Isabelle found herself smiling fondly down at the youngest Lightwood.

“Hey, Max. How’s it going?”

Max looked up, serious little face turning happy as he spotted her. With his big, dark eyes and tousled black locks, Max looked the perfect little Lightwood- if he’d had blue eyes and swapped his youthful energy for a more serious quiet, he could have been Alec at twelve.

“Izzy! Are you done with work?”

“Yeah, no kidding. I don’t exactly want to work myself to death during the holidays.”

Max pulled a face. “It’s not like you do that anyway. That’s Alec.”

She snorted. “Wow, rude. But yes, I am finished for the day.”

“You think you and I could go and watch a movie or something?” Max said, excitedly, book forgotten.

“Mhhm, maybe. I’ve got presents to wrap, you know.” Isabelle said, a pang of guilt coursing through her as his face fell.

“Can I see mine yet?” Max questioned, some of his excitement remaining at the mention of gifts.

“Nice try.” Isabelle laughed, before leaning down conspiratorially. “Guess what I got Jace.”

“Hairspray?” Max asked, brow raised.

“You got it.”

He scrunched up his nose in dismissal. “Izzy, you’ve gotten Jace an ironic hair care product for every Christmas of his life. He’s way too used to it by now.”

“You mean every Christmas of _your_ life, maybe. You were only one when Jace started living with us, but _he_ was eight.” Isabelle corrected, refusing to let him win.

Max only grinned. “Yeah, but I’m still right. Maybe this year you should bake him something instead.”

“Are you insinuating something about my cooking, Maxwell?”

“Me? _Never_ …” Max replied, much too sarcastic for the average twelve year old.

Isabelle snorted, ruffling his hair and knocking his glasses askew. “Out of my way, you impertinent child.”

As he laughed, she pushed past him, up the winding staircase and to her room.

\---

Once she’d thrown herself on her bed and shifted until she was comfortable, her hands flew to her phone before she’d even intended to do so.

No new messages.

The good mood that had surfaced during her conversation with Max started to fade.

Alec still hadn’t replied to any of her messages.

It wasn’t as though it worried her.

Of course not.

It was simply anger, because he was her brother and he was clearly in shape for making smarmy comments at an interviewer, but he hadn’t even bothered telling her or Jace what was going on.

She’d tried ringing that roomie of his, but even he hadn’t responded.

Kind of a shame, really. The guy wasn’t too ugly.

Either way, Alec had given them nothing but radio silence.

He must have been too busy looking for a date to call her, Isabelle thought snidely. Alec’s outburst had been unexpected, and also unexpectedly hurtful.

Not that she was bothered by it. Alec would come back crying for help sooner or later. Isabelle didn’t think he’d fail at finding a date, mind.

But Alec was Alec. He didn’t do scandalous things.

He’d find a girl, regain his perfect manners, and remain the passive, gloomy, whiny pushover he’d always been.

OK, so that was a little harsh. Alec’s gloom was kind of justified, given his dangerous position. He was just so _difficult_ , and so closed off- especially since he’d escaped for uni, Isabelle felt like she was losing all traces of the sarcastic but fantastic brother she’d used to be best friends with.

Alec had never been the most open or communicative person, nor the most easygoing, but Isabelle hadn’t been used to finding him distant.

Heaving a sigh, she was about to put her phone away when it started ringing insistently.

As Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” started playing, full of 1972 vibes, Isabelle rolled her eyes.

“Hey, Jace.”

“Isabella, dearest. How’re you?”

“The same I was yesterday morning, when you last saw me. But thanks for asking.”

Jace snorted.

“I’ll have you know I’m simply a very caring brother.”

“Unlike our other brother.” Isabelle said a tad bitterly, pulling a face.

Jace made a humming sound.

“Which is why I’m calling you.”

“Alec called?”

“Nah. I ran into a delightful friend of his, though. Self-righteous dick called Simon.” Jace said, tone turning scathing.

“Oh, _him_.” Isabelle hummed, interest piqued. “What did he do?”

“You mean apart from acting like I’d singlehandedly driven Alec to a murderspree?” Jace replied, clearly bristling. “He told me Alec had spent the night at a friend’s house.”

“A friend?” Isabelle quirked a brow. “But I rang all the obvious people.”

“I know. I have no idea who it was.” Jace admitted begrudgingly. “ _Simon_ did, of course.”

“And you didn’t get him to tell you?” Isabelle exclaimed.

“I tried!” Jace protested. “The guy had a personal vendetta against me.”

Isabelle groaned. Of course.

“Great. Now I have to waste even more gift-wrapping time to go interrogate some nerdy band kid.”

“You’d think he’s cute, though.”

“I’ve met him, Jace, he _is_ cute.” Isabelle paused. “But thanks for sharing your appreciation of Simon’s good looks.”

Jace made a sarcastic laughing noise. “Hilarious, Izzy. Look, I’m almost home, anyway, so I’ll see you then.”

“You do that. I’ll call Simon. But you owe me for the gift-wrapping time!”

“Oh, please, you always get us the same joke presents either way. You could just not wrap those and spare about an hour.”

“ _Bye_ , Jace.”

She ended the call with a pointed tap, before going to her recent calls.

Time to talk to the roomie.

\-----

Sneaking back into his dorm really wasn’t all that easy, Karl Johnson thought sympathetically as he watched the eldest Lightwood try to get around a corner without being spotted.

Although Alec had clearly tried telling the paparazzi he was going to be away from his flat, a swarm of them were still prowling the area in hopes of getting in a good shot of his “company” or whatever else.

Karl liked the kid. He was a decent guy, and miraculously introverted- whereas watching Jace or Isabelle was a constant race against the wild lifestyles of the two young rich people, Alec preferred to stay inside, go to class, go to the gym, rinse and repeat.

There was no long list of exes to be wary of, and no shady friends to take notice of.

The previous day’s little stunt had come as a surprise.

Karl felt pretty bad for Trayvon- the guy had been on duty the day before, and the incident hadn’t reflected too well on his work ethic. He was technically blameless, though: the security was only ever supposed to watch the kids when they were in dangerous areas, or when there was news of a threat.

Karl was here today because of that- to check that the boy was okay if he showed up.

Alec didn’t look comatose, at least. He was bruised and beaten and it looked pretty damn painful, to the point that even Karl had winced upon seeing him, but he was steady on his feet, and someone had done a good job of bandaging him.

Of course, from what he’d seen, the boy was pretty smart. Not that the others weren’t (boy, had they managed to give Security the slip), but there was something about the eldest Lightwood that made him seem more potentially dangerous. Sneaky, maybe.

Hell, they hadn’t managed to find out where he was, and they were professionals.

He hadn’t gone anywhere logical, and he hadn’t called any kind of services.

And here was Alec Lightwood, tiredly attempting to escape the pap, looking lucid as ever.

Karl considered him for a moment, and then his sympathy won over the rest of his feelings. Stalking over to the camera crew, he paid no regard to the young man he’d walked past and turned his glare towards them.

“Hey! What are you doing over there?” Karl shouted, in his most efficient “tough security dude who gets payed too little” voice.

“We’re allowed to!” Cocky newbie shouted, probably about to spout some legal crap.

“And I’m allowed to throw your ass off this property! Clear out!” Karl snapped, crossing his arms for effect as he came to a halt.

They hesitated.

Smart-ass senior half-raised his hand. “With all due respect, we’re not intruding on property, it's a university campus-”

“Look, bub,” Karl interrupted, “This is the Lightwoods we’re talking about. We’ve given you your time, but playtime’s over. You want to have the Lightwoods on your case?”

Silence fell.

Karl glared.

In a messy formation, the group scrambled away.

Karl watched them go, relaxing his stance. God, he hated those stupid journalists.

Tabloids. Who wanted them?

Someone cleared their throat.

“I, uh.” Alec Lightwood said, awkwardly, once he’d turned around. “Thank you.”

Karl blinked at him before grinning despite himself. “No problem, kid.”

Alec nodded, shifting from foot to foot, before turning and racing into the building.

“Lightwoods, I swear.” Karl muttered to himself, amused.

Always full of surprises, his job was.

(He certainly preferred this kind to the kind where you found twelve dead bodies in the client’s bath.)

“Y’know,” Elise told him, as they started the drive to their parent’s house, Christmas presents bouncing around in the boot of his car, “I still kind of want to know where the damn boy went.”

“Don’t know.” Karl shrugged, adjusting his rearview mirror. “I kind of hope he ends up pulling the mat out from under all of us, though.”

“You would, you softie.” Elise snickered, before making a satisfied noise. “Hey, dude- it’s snowing tomorrow!”

“Think those crazy Spaniards in the old house are going to have a massive snowball fight again?” Karl asked, remembering the previous year.

“What, you mean the vampires?” Elise questionned, eyebrow raised.

“Oh, please. Not this again.” Karl complained, even as he smiled.

His sister merely gave a frustrated: “I _swear_ they’re vampires!”

Karl started laughing just as she began a half-serious speech.

“No, don’t you laugh at me- they’re all good looking and broody, and they never seem to emerge when it’s warm-”

“And they have scary vampire snowball fights…”

“Shut _up_ , Karl! You know, once I saw that Raphael kid in the street, and I was eating garlic bread, and when he passed by me I _swear_ he flinched!”

“That’s because of the smell, Lise, not because of his immortal youth.”

“Why do you refuse to believe me? Skin that good _cannot_ be natural, Karl!”

“So you’re saying Magnus Bane is also a vampire?”

“ _Maybe!”_

Thoughts of Alec Lightwood faded from his mind pretty quickly after that.

\-----

Max heaved a sigh as he finally put the last present with the rest underneath his desk.

Max both loved and hated Christmas.

He loved the holidays, because it meant Izzy and Jace were at home much more often, and that he didn’t have much work to do, and he also loved the morning before the Christmas Eve dinner, because Alec was there and he never got to see Alec anymore.

The morning before the dinner was probably his absolute all-time favourite part of the year, because his whole family got together and talked and bickered and laughed and it was just the six of them and no one else, except maybe sometimes Hodge, but that was all right.

The dinner itself, well.

Max had to put on an uncomfortable outfit and behave properly and talk to a lot of old people with weird smiles and really annoying voices who talked to him like he was five.

He was the youngest by far, and Alec and Jace and Izzy were always busy talking to their dates and the rest of the family and all of the business partners that unevitably showed up.

Still, the boredom and the stiff clothes he could bear. It was the fakeness he didn’t like. People always acted unnatural at these kind of parties, Max found- his whole family did.

Jace and Isabelle were mostly the same, and Alec was too, except when he had to talk a lot, because Alec didn’t like talking a lot. All the grownups, though, they were really fake, and kind of creepy- Max always felt like there were politics and things involved that he couldn’t yet fully grasp.

If there was one thing he hated, it was being excluded from things.

It had used to be better, when he was still a kid. The pre-party get together lasted longer, back then, and at some point Max used to have all his siblings with him for the entire holiday. Back then, as grumpy as Alec was and as whiny as Isabelle got and as sulky as Jace could be, they’d had fun all together- even when Max wasn’t part of the conversation, he enjoyed just watching the three of them interacting.

It wasn’t like that anymore. Alec didn’t even live at home, and though Jace and Isabelle did they were out most of the time.

Alec used to come home for a whole week for Christmas, even when he’d just started uni, not that long ago.

Jace and Isabelle used to stick around during the holidays.

But Jace was often out chasing trouble, and he and Isabelle liked collecting scandals and attention more than playing Mario Bros with Max.

And Isabelle liked going on millions of dates, and parties, and though they often went together they weren’t quite as together as they used to be.

Still, at least Isabelle and Jace were still kind of Izzy-and-Jace.

Alec wasn’t.

Alec was away from home, and Alec hated Christmas anyway, because of the fake parties. Last year, he’d left the party early and barely showed up the next day.

But even when Alec was around, he didn’t _want_ to be around anyway. He was a lot the same, but talked even less, and got even more angry- Max could tell even when others didn’t, because Alec was the eldest and he’d learnt to read his siblings like books by now.

Alec’s jaw clenched more easily, and he was always frowning, and sometimes he looked scared, and sometimes he looked sad. Alec hadn’t changed much on the outside, but Alec was doing worse.

Max hated knowing this, just like he hated knowing about Jace and Izzy’s problems, because he didn’t want them to be having problems at all.

He missed Alec, and he missed their family.

Max felt lonely enough without the “home” in home-schooled starting to feel like it wasn’t much of a home at all.

Something, he thought gravely, looking at his Naruto poster, was going to happen soon. Something bad.

Maybe then things would start getting better again.

“You wish, kid.” Sasuke told him.

Down below, Isabelle was saying: “…Didn’t even consider it! What is wrong with that guy?”

“Alec has terrible taste in roommates.” Jace replied.

“If they’re so terrible”, Max sighed miserably, “why isn’t Alec here?”

No one answered, because no one had heard him.

He was kind of used to it by now.

\---

“Everything ready for tomorrow?” Robert asked carefully, as he flicked a page of his book.

“Of course.” Maryse replied, cool as always. “The cartering service will be here by nine, and the children promised to help. I’ve already laid out all the decorations.”

“Have you gotten in touch with the Penhallows?”

“Yes, finally. They’ll be here, but late.”

“I see.”

“Alec still hasn’t called.” Maryse said, after a pause.

“Security told me he was at his flat.”

“I know.”

His wife stayed silent, pointedly perhaps.

Robert did not respond.

“He’ll have to be ready to answer a few questions when we reach the church.” He finally said, referring to the curious journalists that always crowded outside the building. They’d kept them out of the property by claiming their right to privacy- another manipulation, of course, reinforcing the humane aspect of the company. As if the Lightwoods couldn’t handle a couple of cameras.

“You weren’t expecting this.” Maryse answered eventually, not bothering to elaborate. Her gaze was firmly fixed on her book.

“Alec isn’t the one I have to worry about.” Robert said, firmly.

A barb dressed like an excuse.

Maryse didn’t rise to the bait.

After a while, he put off the light and lied down, vaguely conscious as always of the space between them.

Christmas Eve was nothing but another play, in the business world.

Robert Lightwood never was one for improvisation.

\---

Just as the oldest Lightwood fell asleep, two people in different parts of a big city dropped a glass and winced at the shattering sound.

Magnus Bane, drunk on bitter resentment and whisky, let himself drop next to the broken glass, careless of the shards that dug into his hand as he let his head thunk loudly against the cabinet.

Alec Lightwood, failing to steady his shaking hands, carefully swept up the mess and threw it away, before gripping the wall as a wave of anxiety hit him.

Neither were very concerned about the festive mood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I'm on tumblr, come talk to me.  
> I hope the POVs were entertaining to read, and the prelude to drama is strong enough ;)  
> Also, sorry for the many surprise reveals in the chapter, but I am not a nice person.  
> Please comment, it's very appreciated.  
> (Next chapter: the Christmas party!)


	6. an ending of sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Alec acting differently was making everyone ill at ease, and on the defensive- which, of course, meant that their carelessly hurtful comments turned rather more harsh.
> 
> This one time, though, Alec was going to have the last word.
> 
> He was done."
> 
> \----
> 
> In which, after a long time, shit goes down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am SO SORRY for the long wait jfc  
> i do have a long list of legitimate excuses but who really cares  
> but here we are, at the end of this fic! who would've thought it?  
> exciting announcement, though: this is not the end, because i'm making a series of works out of it! (if enough people are interested, of course)  
> there's still a lot of loose ends, which is why i'd like to write some more, but we'll see...  
> anyway, this is THE part that started this whole fic, and believe me, i struggled to make it come out the way i wanted it to, but it is here in all its glory, and i do hope you'll enjoy.

(December 24th, residence of Alec Lightwood, 6.05 am)

The light in his room made everything a bleak white when Alec woke up.

He’d forgotten to switch it off before going to bed, apparently, and from its position on the floor he guessed he’d been flailing around in his sleep.

His whole body gave a low throb of protest as he pushed himself upright. His bruises were still fairly noticeable, and he’d changed his bandages the previous night, so he probably still looked like he’d just crawled out of Fight Club. Still, he reflected as he caught sight of himself in the mirror on his wall, it was a fair sight better than he’d looked the night he’d run into Magnus.

Ah, yes. Magnus.

Alec’s reflection gave an instinctive wince as his brain finally shifted into a more awake state. His nerves from the previous night, although somewhat lessened by his barely awoken position, were rushing back in a flood of anxiety.

Today was Christmas Eve.

God, he felt sick.

Taking a steadying breath, Alec fell back on his usual way of coping with growing panic attacks- compartmentalising. He steered his mind firmly away from the rest of the day. swinging his legs over the side of his bed and focusing on getting up.

He stubbornly refused to let his thoughts wander for the rest of the early hours of day- as he got dressed, as he made his bed, as he brushed his teeth, as he weakly attempted to eat breakfast (he failed, but at least he tried), as he pulled on his coat and scarf, until his boots had been carefully laced, Alec kept up the mantra of _don’t think about it_ that he’d been using all his life.

When he had to admit to himself that there was literally no way to tie his laces even more tightly, Alec finally stood up, slowly, and gave a regretful glance towards his phone.

His fingers were actually twitching a little as he reached for the device, swiping a slightly shaky finger across the screen and heading towards his contacts.

The last few conversations under Isabelle’s name were all streams of increasingly worried and angry texts from two days ago, followed by a few cooly annoyed texts from the day before.

Alec’s own silence spoke volumes.

 

Unlike what Isabelle probably imagined, Alec’s unwillingness to reply wasn’t merely a sign of his irritation.

He had actually meant to try and tell his siblings he was okay- he’d just kind of forgotten about them, what with Magnus and all. The thought made his face heat up, flustering him enough that for a millisecond he forgot about his other problems.

When he’d remembered, however, he’d given in to the rather vindictive urge to prolong their uncertainty by not responding. And then there’d been the interview, and after that he didn’t know how to proceed.

A short text would be useless, and a long one would make him want to crack and tell them everything.

It had been a while since they’d been Alec-Jace-and-Isabelle (or more accurately Jace&Izzy and Alec), but even while physically distancing himself from his siblings and lessening their interactions, he’d never really mentally been able to break the ties he’d had with his brother and sister.

And even now that he’d blown up at Isabelle, and was preparing to do the unthinkable, Alec was precariously balanced on the line between the past and future, clinging desperately onto their old bond whilst trying to free himself from their shadows.

He missed Jace and Isabelle, even now. He missed them even when he hated them- missed their childhood, missed the way they’d used to be.

When they’d been younger, as uncomfortable and sullen and introverted as Alec was, spending time with Jace and Izzy had been as easy as breathing. Something had changed.

That something, Alec realised, slowly, was him. Jace and Isabelle hadn’t changed- become more reckless, more troubled, more clichéd rebellious rich kids, perhaps, but stayed the same at the core. Alec, on the other hand, had changed.

Realising that he would never be into girls had pulled Alec into a heavily troubled state of mind. He’d been alone with his knowledge for so long, worried, self-hating, scared, angry, with no one to confide in. Even when Isabelle had finally come to him, he’d already settled into a new skin, even more closed off than he’d been before; and- the part that made the difference- closed off to his own siblings.

From there, the chasm was widened between them. While Isabelle and Jace, free from the expectations the eldest Lightwood had always had keeping him in line, grew wilder, Alec’s workaholic tendencies took over, tying in with the self destructive moods he had.

Alec was no fun to be around. Isabelle and Jace craved fun desperately nowadays, if only out of boredom and a vague knowledge that neither of them was quite as okay as they wanted to be.

When he’d escaped his home and moved away, he’d also been pushing himself further into his little protective bubble. Although Alec had previously lacked the strength to actually shake them off, he’d been self-aware enough to understand that they were losing each other, a little bit.

 

 

He’d been so angry at Isabelle, in the café.

It was such a stupid thing to get angry about- he’d endured millions of barbs like that without ever snapping, had heard so much worse before.

She’d only gotten vicious because of his own low blow. He hadn’t meant to say it, really, which just went to show how close to cracking he’d been without even knowing it.

Isabelle’s concerns just stung a little, is all. Because she only ever seemed to complain about him not sharing his troubles, but she was never actually around when he needed her to be.

And then, when she’d issued the triple blow, Alec had just blown up.

Not only was she jabbing at the fact he was being a coward, hiding behind a series of pretty, respectable girls that Isabelle found for him, but she was deliberately taking a stab at what she knew his weaknesses were. Disappointing their parents was the one thing Alec had worked his whole life to avoid- and she wasn’t only cruelly toying with his fears, but mocking his goody-two-shoes behaviour. It was easy for Isabelle and Jace to laugh- for all the disapproving frowns they got, their parents didn’t really mind their scandals all that much. They were good at their jobs, and they brought in media attention, and they weren’t Alec.

Alec was the son that couldn’t afford to mess up. Isabelle was the daughter that could afford to laugh at that.

And then his sister had dropped the Jace card into it.

Alec had been so angry in that brief moment that he’d honestly considered hitting his sister.

Isabelle had been the only one to know about his painful crush, the possessive jealousy that had flared up in him so often, the heartache he’d never let show.

Things like this were why Alec had subconsciously known he should avoid confrontation with his siblings. When they were attacked in their more fragile spots, they got nasty.

And Alec, for someone so collected, had a tendency to explode when people got nasty with him.

Before, they’d been close enough that when they did blow up at each other, they knew they’d gone too far, and stiff excuses followed.

Now, there was an awkwardness between them that meant that their split felt final, like the last tearful insults hurled before someone grabbed their belongings and left.

Alec exhaled, thought about his favourite kind of weather, and texted Isabelle.

“Taking bus. Be there in an hour or so.”

Then he put his phone away, stepped out of his flat, and locked the door with a gloomy finality.

When he’d come back tonight, everything would be different.

——-

The bus ride was slow, monotonous.

Alec watched the busy streets blur as the bus rode steadily out of the student village and into the city’s big business centre. His family’s company stood tall amongst the others, steady stream of workers pouring in and out of it regardless of the festivities.

Elbow propped up on the windowsill, Alec let his eyes fall shut for a moment, breathing steadily, cheek pressed against the cool glass. The skies were clouded, the sun shining weakly but persistently from somewhere behind them.

The seat next to him was still empty when he opened his eyes- there were relatively few stops on this circuit, so he wasn’t all that surprised.

His rather bulky bag lied at his feet, and shifted under them when he twisted to pull his phone and earphones out of his pocket.

He supposed it was rather ridiculous to bring presents when he’d be giving them all a big middle finger in the same evening, but it was Christmas. Max, at the very least, deserved a happier holiday than Alec was handing him.

Guilt tugged at his heartstrings as his youngest sibling entered his mind. Max was the most perceptive of the lot, regardless of his age, and Alec knew without wanting to know that Max was far more conscious of the troubles within the household than he let on.

It wasn’t Max’s fault he’d been born into a messed up household. It wasn’t Max’s fault Jace was a bit of a dick and Isabelle was a bit of a bitch and Alec was a bit of both and also gay. It wasn’t Max’s fault that their parents were bad parents, and that their father was who he was and what he was.

Max deserved so much better.

Alec couldn’t give him that.

He’d gotten him the biggest present- a whole limited edition boxset of that anime he loved, and then a mixtape he’d spent far more time on.

Alec put his earphones in, almost aggressively starting to play Beyonce to counter the dark mood he was in.

Then he scrolled to his contacts, finally finding Clary’s number, and spent a good few minutes with the soft beat of Pretty Hurts in his ears trying to find something to write without coming off the wrong way.

In the end, he simply wrote: “Are you still okay with tonight?”

The reply came almost immediately, the little bubble knotting Alec’s stomach up as he waited for a response.

“sure am! u?”

Clary’s answer came almost as an adrenalin rush- a confirmation that it was really happening, and a reminder of the more playful side to the whole mess.

“If I wasn’t, I’d be in even more of a panicked state that I am.” Alec typed, sounding dry even in text form.

“lol” Clary replied first, before continuing: “srsly tho, u sure ure good? s a lot of pressure”

_No shit_. Alec thought, before writing back a: “I’m good. I don’t really do spontaneous.”

“lmao, i figured.” Alec smiled wryly, before Clary’s next message came in. “okay, but just as a reality check: jaces the blonde hot but dickish one and isablles the brunette hot but bitchy one right”

“You’ve met Isabelle. And I’m sure the Internet would love providing answers.”

“im just checking! dont usually run into random celebrities everyday”

“I thought you had a whole entourage.”

“yeah, my non existent entourage doesn't invite me on fake dates so that they can bring in their other fake date to shock their families :P”

“I see your point.”

Conversation continued for about twenty minutes.

Clary was funny, more down to earth than he was used to- a little like Simon, actually. He’d been a bit suspicious of her to begin with; when she’d revealed that she knew about him and Magnus, Alec had been ready to resort to desperate measures (blackmail and murder were the first to come to mind) to silence her.

And yet, though she wasn’t quite his type of person, Clary had kept her word and revealed herself a pleasant conversationalist.

When their chat had ended, Alec’s anticipation had turned a little less terrified and a little more expectant.

His careful good mood, of course didn’t last more than ten minutes- for once, he had even been trying to conserve it.

He’d zoned out, and before he knew P!nk was throatily asking him not to ever feel like he was “less than fucking perfect.”

Jolting awake, Alec rushed to unlock his phone to change the playlist.

The damage had been done, however. “Alec’s feel good tunes ;P” had only just started playing, but the actual Alec’s mind had flown back to the summer when Jace and Izzy had laughingly presented him with a doodled-on CD filled with self-love pop songs and random hits.

He’d transferred it onto his phone almost immediately, and had kept on doing so for years afterwards, half as a joke and half because he’d grown attached to the songs.

He was busy blinking at the list of songs when his phone started buzzing and the screen switched to a picture of Magnus leaning against a lamppost.

“Hello?”

“Alexander. There’s been a crisis.” Magnus said, very seriously.

Alec’s blood ran cold.

“What?”

“My navy coat isn’t going to be out of the dry-cleaners in time. I’ll have to settle for…” Magnus paused, sighing. “Prussian blue.”

Incomprehension swept over Alec, followed by an incredulous relief.

“…You’re talking about your outfit.”

“Yes?” Magnus asked, in a tone that made it sound like Alec was the ridiculous one. “I had to warn you, didn’t I?”

“About your coat’s colour being slightly different.”

“Of course.”

“ _Magnus_.” Alec spluttered, half annoyed and half amused.

Magnus made a very innocent confused sound, as if he couldn’t understand Alec’s reaction.

Alec snorted, his pulse finally starting to slow down after the near heart attack Magnus had given him.

“Do you think your family would be offended if I brought wine?” Magnus asked, musingly.

“Most definitely.”

“Good!” Magnus replied brightly, with the satisfaction of one who’d succeeded at life. “Because I bought them a bottle of very expensive Gallo- which, by the way, is a brand Bane Industries sponsors. It'll be delivered tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, my God.” Alec breathed, as a rush of terrified delight overtook him. “My parents will be furious. My uncle could have a _seizure_.”

Magnus laughed on the other side of the line. Alec bit on his lip to refrain from smiling dumbly to himself.

He looked outside to recompose himself, only to realise he was about fifteen minutes away from the Lightwood residence.

“Uh, Magnus?”

“Yes?” The response was cautious, easy but apprehensive.

“I”m almost at ho- my parents’. I should probably go.” Alec explained, rather reluctantly.

“And you’re sure you won’t plan my execution with your conniving siblings whilst I prepare?” Magnus mocked, amused smirk almost audible in his tone.

“Well, Isabelle would probably at least want to sleep with you once before killing you,” Alec responded bluntly, “And Jace doesn’t really do planning.” He paused as Magnus snickered, continuing rather thoughtfully with a: “Well, I guess Max could have been planning to murder us all without us knowing, but I’d be surprised.”

“See you tonight, Alexander.” Magnus replied, sounding lightly entertained.

“Yeah. Bye.” Alec didn’t wait for a response before ending the call.

Isabelle had responded, sometimes during the conversation- her long delay was obviously rather pointed, but Alec couldn’t really bring himself to care at this point.

“K.” the text read, so cliché in its content that Alec really did feel tempted to post something on his tumblr (Simon never needed to know).

Instead, he wrote: “Ten minutes.” and shut his phone off.

Five minutes later, the bus dropped him off a down the street, and he stared up at his childhood house from a distance.

Well. Here he was.

——-

Not for the first time, as he hesitated in front of the door, Alec took a moment to reflect just how ominous the Lightwood mansion looked to the average passerby. Dark, looming, massive, ancient- the house looked like what he’d always imagined Grimmauld Place to look like.

Most of all, the house had a threatening edge to it- after the imposing arched gates and the sprawling road that led to the front door, the building was built in that type of Gothic style that brought vampires and murders to mind. The windows, though large, were curtained shut to keep the paparazzi out; the door was massive and built out of heavy wood; even the trees Alec had struggled to keep Jace from falling out of as children seemed to create a solid barrier between the house and the outside world.

It wasn’t the first time Alec had thought this, but it was the first time he’d felt like he was part of the outside.

Steeling himself, he knocked thrice, in rapid succession, before pushing the door open.

Hodge was walking through the hall, and he paused to beam at Alec when he recognised him.

“Alexander! It’s been far too long.” Hodge said, pleasantly, looking much the same as he always had with his tweed suit, crooked glasses and greying hair.

Alec gave him a slight smile, as the older man came closer to give him a one armed hug, favouring his uninjured side as always. “It’s nice seeing you.”

Hodge rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. Don’t you start with the niceties. An old stay-at-home academic can hardly be at the top of your list of acquaintances.”

Alec quirked a more relaxed smile at that, before retorting: “I’d say we’re barely acquaintances at this point. Anyone who’s been scarred by Jace and Isabelle’s shenanigans this much deserves to be part of the family.”

Hodge smiled at that, albeit slightly bitterly. “I must confess I’ve never quite been the same after the time I found Jace hanging naked from a tree while Isabelle sat next to a burning television and you threw an empty shampoo bottle at them.”

“I swear there’s a perfectly rational explanation for that.”

“Isn’t there always?”

Alec’s reply was interrupted when a loud screech came from the staircase.

Hodge gave him an amused look and left as Max came barreling down the stairs, his usual quiet completely gone as he flung himself into Alec’s arms.

“You’re home! You’re home!” Max exclaimed excitedly, clinging onto Alec like a limpet.

Alec hugged him back, perhaps a bit more tightly than usual, guilt gnawing at his insides along with a bittersweet happiness. “I am.”

His reply was soft enough for Max’s beam to falter slightly as he pulled away, glasses knocked askew.

“Alec?”

Immediately, Alec’s smile morphed into a more sincere one: “I’m just a little tired. Had to spend ages trying to find an item of clothing Isabelle didn’t already own.”

Max laughed, a tad hesitantly, before asking: “What about Jace?”

“I gave up on Jace.” Alec dead-panned.

Max giggled.

Alec very pointedly ignored the part of his brain pointing out that his statement was a little too true.

“I saw the video of you in that huge fight thing,” Max said, pulling Alec out of his thoughts with an eager grin. “You were so cool!”

“Thanks.” Alec said, dryly, as Max grinned.

“It was like Naruto! And when you did the- and like the- and then you slammed the guy- and then- it was so awesome!” Max continued, waving his arms in an attempt to recreate said “moves”.

“I’m glad you enjoyed watching me get beaten up.” Alec said, with a snort, as Max snickered.

“You were really cool, though.” Max said, when he’d calmed a little, such honest admiration in his voice that Alec almost flinched.

“Yeah, well. Jace and Isabelle have always been better than me at that sort of thing.” Alec replied, with a shrug.

Max pulled a face like he didn’t believe him, before tilting his head sideways. “Where’d you go?”

“Sorry?”

Max made a vague gesture with his hand, before whispering: “After the fight? Where did you go?”

Alec stilled, as Max went on: “You can tell me. Promise I won’t say.”

“I know.”

“You weren’t at your normal friends’ houses, cause Izzy and Jace called them and got annoyed and stuff. And you didn’t…” Max faltered. “You didn’t come home.”

From the way he spoke, Alec knew he wasn’t referring to his flat. His guilt surged up again.

“I can’t tell you right now, Max.”

“But-“

“But I’ll tell you tonight, okay? Promise.” Max opened his mouth, shut it, and swallowed.

“Okay.”

They stood for a moment, silently, the two most observant Lightwood children observing each other.

A familiar clicking of heels snapped them out of it.

“Max, mom wants us to bring the-“

Isabelle paused as she entered the hall, taking in Alec’s presence with quickly concealed surprise.

“-Lights.”

“Alec’s home!” Max almost shouted, his previous energy returning at the prospect of the whole family being together.

“I can see that.” Isabelle said, coolly. And then, because neither of them was quite petty enough to ruin Max’s happiness, she gave a very believable smile at Alec. “Hey, Al.”

“Hey, Iz.” Alec replied easily, before giving a light: “How many boyfriends should I be expecting tonight?”

Max giggled, and something flashed in his sister’s eyes before she kept up the pretence of their usual banter by dropping a: “I don’t know- how many letters are there in “forever alone”?”

“Twelve?” Alec tsked. “You’re slipping. Last year there were fourteen.”

Max gave a vague scandalised laugh, like someone had said a curse word- overprotected child that he was- before tugging at Alec’s hand and moving towards the living room.

“C’mon! We’re doing the tree!”

“Be there in a moment, Max.”

“Jace needs help with the figurines.” Isabelle added, ruffling Max’s hair. “He’s too much of an inner emo to get it right.”

At that, the tween ran off, laughing, leaving the two staring at each other.

 

Isabelle was scowling- on the defensive, ready to attack if needed.

Alec looked impassive, which he knew would only rile her up more.

It was his sister who cracked first, unsurprisingly. Neither had apologised after the previous fight, and she’d been too hurt to want to do so- she was going to push Alec until they fought and he inevitably apologised.

“You find yourself a date, then? Because I can find a last minute date if you need one.” Isabelle offered, with that false sweetness that made grown men scream and run for their lives.

“I’m good. Thanks.” Alec replied curtly.

“I can’t wait to meet Chastity. What share of Lightwood Inc. does her daddy own?”

Alec rolled his eyes, refusing to rise to the bait. His victory would be lessened if he already got angry at everyone this early on.

“I don’t know, Isabelle. Maybe they own the chain of strip clubs you found your date in.”

She snorted, barely affected by the rather overused barb. “My, my, Alec. Isn’t that sort of language a bit risqué for the heir to the throne?”

Alec bristled faintly, but merely sighed as he pushed past her and headed for the sitting room.

“I’m not calling you names.”

He was conscious of her eyes burning holes into his back as she watched him walk away.

———

In the living room, Max was cheerfully trying to force Jace into wearing a Santa hat, while their mother sat nearby with a cup of tea, reviewing lists (of guests, probably).

It was her who spotted him first, giving him a nod of the head.

“Alexander. How have you been?”

“Fine, thanks. You?”

“I’m fine. Busy, but that’s to be expected.”

Maryse’s frown was explained when she spoke again: “I hope we won’t be having some other breaking news to expect from you.”

Ah, yes. The fight.

“That was a one time occurrence.”

“You know we can’t have things like that happening, Alec, it’s bad for the company.” Maryse sighed, giving him a worried and tired look.

Even more than the vague remorse he felt, Alec had to fight to bite back the angry retort at the back of his mind.

_It never seems to matter when Jace or Isabelle get completely wasted and sleep around and cause trouble, does it?_

“Besides, you worried us.” His mother gave him a beseeching look as she finally focused on him. “Please don’t do that again.”

_It’s not like you, Alec. You always call. You always do the right thing._

“I won’t.” Alec said.

Isabelle entered the room, putting a box down next to their mother and pulling her into a conversation.

Alec took the opportunity to wander over to where Jace and Max were putting the decorations onto the massive tree.

Jace had managed to argue his way out of wearing the hat, but Alec was fairly sure he’d end up giving in after a while.

“Hey.” Jace turned around, his expression flickering between happiness and anger.

Jace could be rather broody and volatile, but he wasn’t used to Alec being the one to upset him.

In the end, he settled for neutral- after all, he and Alec hadn’t fought, and his annoyance stemmed more from the lack of contact after the fight than from any real recent conflict.

“Hey. Nice bruises.”

Alec snorted. “Thanks. I was trying for somewhere between Fight Club and Rocky.”

At that, Jace laughed, before his expression sobered. “You didn’t tell us where you were.”

It wasn’t exactly a “we were worried” because Jace would never say that out loud, but it was easy to translate.

“Sorry.” Alec said, half sincere. “I was kind of out of it.”

“You didn’t sound out of it on TV.” Jace retorted, suspicion heavy in his tone.

“I’m a good actor.” Alec said, quietly.

Jace gave him a strange look, like he knew there was something more to it but didn’t know in which direction to push.

After a while, he settled for a displeased: “I noticed.”

“Learnt from the best.” Alec replied, which could be interpreted either as a peace-making joke or as an uncharacteristically biting accusation.

Jace looked troubled.

“Alec, help me up!” Max called, from where he was teetering on a pile of boxes.

Alec went.

——-

Although there was an underlying tension to the day, the discomforting awkwardness had disappeared by lunchtime; caused by Max’s obvious happiness at having the family together and the mere familiarity of the whole thing.

At lunch, the siblings’ bickering was almost friendly- Jace seemed to have dropped his issue with Alec, or at least postponed his thoughts, whilst Isabelle, although she did her best to avoid interacting with Alec, acted almost normally around him.

She wasn’t doing it consciously, and Alec could see her catching herself before she fell back to their usual banter, but being together with the rest of them kept luring her into a false sense of normalcy.

Still, it was bearable, and much less strained than Alec had feared- although his parents (and especially his father, who’d only appeared for five minutes before going to help somewhere else) were both even more distant than usual, and though Isabelle kept snipping admittedly hurtful one-liners at him, Jace and Max were both at their most friendly.

In the half-hour before the guests arrived, the siblings were acting so similar to their old selves that Alec’s determination faltered.

“…saying at all! That one was all Alec’s fault!” Jace defended, laughing, as Isabelle gave a “ha!” of disbelief. Alec snorted, from where he was sitting on the couch opposite the other two, Max by his side.

“I was completely innocent.”

“Innocent my ass! You’re the one who suggested the paintballs in the first place!”

“Suggested being the key word. You’re the one who went through with it.”

Jace made a scandalised sound as Max snickered and even Isabelle quirked an amused smile.

“Don’t act like you had nothing to do with it, dickhead. I was the scapegoat here.”

Alec gave him an angelic smile, leaving Jace to go off on a mock angry tangent as the others crowed with laughter.

Alec couldn’t help smiling, which didn’t help the doubts arising in him. His siblings could treat him badly, sure, and his parents didn’t give him the same credit or love they gave the other two, but deep down they loved him, and he loved them- was an overdramatic, public blow to the family and their business really the best way to operate his angsty rebellion?

To buy time, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and switched it on.

“Checking on your girlfriend?” Jace leered, as Alec rolled his eyes. He was about to respond when the screen finally appeared, indicating a missed call.

Before he’d even had the time to see who it was from, the phone starting ringing.

Magnus.

In his surprise, Alec almost dropped his phone.

 

Shit. His siblings couldn’t find out _now_.

His fumbling, of course, made all three of them turn towards him.

Turning his head away to reject any possible questions, Alec shifted away from Max and answered.

“Hello?”

“Alexander. Sorry to interrupt your fun bonding time.”

_Who’s that?_ Isabelle asked, in the background. _I don’t know_ , Max shrugged.

“You don’t have to make that sound illegal, you know.” Alec replied, trying to both ignore the others and stay aware of their proximity.

“But then how would I amuse myself?”

“I’m sure you can think of something.”

Magnus snorted, and Alec fought to keep himself from grinning in response.

_What’s he laughing at?_ Jace asked, intrigued and amused. _Max, move closer_ , Isabelle hissed, as Max very indiscreetly shuffled closer.

“You’re quite right, Alexander. I’m a very…flexible person.”

Alec really was going to ask him how to produce an audible smirk one of these days.

_I don’t recognise their voice_ , Max sighed, as Isabelle huffed. _W_ _ell, they’re making Alec snicker like an idiot, so try harder!_

“Fascinating.” Alec responded dryly, channeling his inner Spock .

“Very Star Trek.” Magnus hummed, before continuing: “Pretend that I’m telling you I’m going to be late.” 

 

This now one-sided fake call had been one of the earliest features of the plan. 

Alec frowned, schooling his features into an expression he hoped conveyed “oh, dear, whatever shall i do”. 

“You’re going to be late?”

_It’s his date, isn't it?_ Max whispered very conspicuously. 

“Yes, I’m busy participating in a threesome with your parents.” Magnus dead-panned. 

For once, Alec was very happy for his talent at disguising his feelings in little time, because instead of turning red and spluttering in mortified amusement, he made a concerned noise and then sighed.

“Work? Really? Today? Your boss is terrible.” 

Then, after a pause in which Magnus started humming Anaconda, he continued: “Well, do you know when you’ll get here?”

_Has anyone ever seen Alec act actually interested in his date?_ Jace questioned. 

“Oh, darling, of course I’ll elope with you!” Magnus gushed in response, making Alec’s eye twitch. 

“Seriously?” Alec said, instead of letting out a screech. Tone carefully frustrated, he continued: “If you’re not sure when you’ll come, then who-” 

“I’ve heard that Zayn has a lot of free time now that he’s left his band, and apparently he’s really good with-” 

“Clary? Really?” Alec interrupted a tad too loudly, with what he hoped sounded like reluctance and surprise.

_Who’s Clary?_

_I’ve met her. She’s one of Simon’s friends._ Isabelle replied, squinting at Alec in suspicion.

_What, like sexually-frustrated-hates-my-guts Simon?_ Jace asked. 

Before Magnus could add something and make him crack, Alec added: “Oh, fine, but- Yes, yes- okay…” 

Magnus made an amused noise, before asking in a more normal voice: “What, you don’t like my jokes anymore, darling?” 

“See you then,” Alec said, sweetly. “Bye.” 

Magnus was laughing as he hung up.

 

There was a pause. 

“Who was that?” Jace asked, all casual. 

“Oh, ah, just my date for tonight.” Alec replied. All casual. 

“What’d she say?” Isabelle inquired, looking extremely disinterested. 

“She’s stuck at work. Doesn’t know when she’ll show up, so I’m just going to ask Clary to come for now- you’ve met Clary, I think?” Alec replied, nonchalantly scrolling through his contacts. “Sorry, two seconds.” 

The phone had barely started ringing when Clary picked up. “Hello?”

“Clary! It’s Alec.” 

“Lol, is everyone watching you right now? I bet they are.” Clary huffed, amused, as Alec allowed himself an inner eyeroll before pushing on. 

“Yeah, yeah, sorry to be calling now- I was just wondering if you had plans tonight?” 

“Haha, you’re basically just talking to yourself.” 

“Oh, really? That’s great- No, yeah, it’s just- yeah, work, you know…” Alec went on, trying to make his voice sound a little more lively than its usual monotone. 

“Shit, they can’t hear me, right?” Clary asked, in a sudden moment of paranoia. 

Alec let her suffer. “Okay, thank you. Should I come and- okay. You know the address?” 

“Actually, it took me a while to find your address- stalker websites aren’t as easy to find as I thought they would be.” Clary responded, more dryly.

“Right. See you in not too long.”

“Hasta la vista.”

 

 

“So, this Clary girl…Is she hot?” Jace asked, once it was clear Alec was done .

Alec gave him a look.

“What?” Jace drawled, with a smirk. “Your actual date is clearly very taken, so I’m just asking.” 

“What about yours?” Alec retorted, with a raised brow. Jace shrugged. “She’s very good-looking, but that’s about it. I trust your friends to have a little higher IQ.” 

“And Simon?” Alec asked, innocently, and not at all in the tone of someone who’d heard Simon’s numerous complaints about his encounter with Jace. 

Jace scowled as Isabelle hid a snicker. “Samuel is the result of a brief lapse of judgement, but we all have our moments.” 

“Sure.” Alec nodded, a tiny bit patronizing, as Jace glowered, in full patented Jace Is Emo mode™.

Straight guys and their sexual tension, honestly.

——-

Geneviève, one of the cooks, came rushing in about ten minutes later to tell them to go and get dressed properly. 

As tradition demanded, this meant that the three Lightwood boys all got up and reluctantly followed Isabelle upstairs. 

Leaving behind their usual all-black broody ensembles (“But it matches my soul!”), or in Max’s case manga t-shirts, the trio ended up dressed properly, in a suit and tie with (gasp) actual colour thrown in. 

Alec was frowning down at the expensive 100% cotton lilac sweater he’d been shoved into and wondering whether or not he should move the tie a bit to the left when the doorbell rang.

Max, who’d cooperated easily in exchange for food, chose that moment to escape, pushing his glasses in place and ruffling the back of his combed and gelled hair up.

Jace, who was dressed much the same as Alec was, albeit in a light green sweater and trousers that were a shade darker grey than his, sighed he shook his hair out.

“If that’s the Evinces I swear I’m leaving.” 

“What, like you didn’t enjoy Humphrey’s lecture on the dangers of selfies last year?” Isabelle asked, emerging from her bathroom in a wine red dress that brought out the dark colour of her hair where it was loosely coiled in a bun. 

“Isabelle,” Jace proclaimed, with a dark look in his eyes, “If I hear the words “humanity’s downfall” one more time, I’ll crush his testicles so hard he won’t be able to sit properly, let alone have children with a blood relation.”

Alec let out an unattractive snorting noise at that, whilst Isabelle grinned. 

“Ah, there’s the acerbic wit Max’s deprived us of. Charming.” 

“I always have an acerbic wit.” 

“Don’t we all?” 

Alec cleared his throat pointedly before the two dissolved into a competitive sass-off or something equally entertaining. “As much as I enjoy you two doing a bizarre hate-flirting ritual, we have guests to impress.” 

“What, and my dark and mysterious attitude won’t do that?” Jace asked, sarcastic as you please. “Here I thought my scandalous and sardonic humour was all part of my charm.” 

“Keep the scandalous, J,” Isabelle replied, checking her hair in the mirror one last time. “Alec’s the broody silent one, remember?” 

“Aren’t we supposed to be the broody family in general?” Jace remarked, as Alec shot his sister a reproachful look. 

“Sure, but inside the trio, I’m the slutty and bitchy ambitious party-girl, you’re the rude and smarmy rebel bar-fighter, and Alec’s the quiet, unfriendly perfect son.” Isabelle piped up, spinning on her heel and stepping forwards. “Shall we?” 

“So dumb of me to forget. Sorry, Alec, I’ll stay out of your area.” Jace drawled, before cracking a wry grin. “Let’s.” 

Alec merely nodded in response, gritting his teeth. 

With Max away, the illusion was shattered- the old trio was no longer the same, and the three no longer worked in their careful balance. 

Alec was the perfect son. 

He closed Isabelle’s door behind him and wondered when he’d see it again.

——- 

The De La Rochefoucaulds had already arrived, as had the Hartleys and the Villons, filling the salon with affected laughter, shrewd eyes, and the sense of old money. 

Greetings having been exchanged and pleasantries said, Alec found himself mingling with the Villons. They were the most obvious nouveau riches in the room- modern day millionaires, as opposed to money-smart aristocrats. 

Still, they were important investors in the company, and it was the first time they’d been present for a Christmas dinner. George Villon was obviously smart, as was his wife, and was quite clearly here to see whether or not the Lightwoods were too. Alec was used to his type, and answered his business questions briefly but expertly, to convey both his knowledge and that “quiet, unfriendly” edge that he was meant to represent. 

Mme Villon joined them after ten minutes of conversation, and her husband turned towards her to murmur a: “Il sait ce qu’il fait, et il est pas mauvais en termes de relations- pas mal, comme héritier.” 

_He knows what he’d doing, and he’s not bad at relations. Not bad, for the next in line._

Alec allowed himself half a smirk, just enough to catch their attention, before replying smoothly: “Vous m’en voyez très flatté, Monsieur, mais pour le moment c’est à ma soeur qu’il faudrait parler.” 

The man made a slightly choked noise as his wife’s brows shot up, before regaining his disinterested facade. “You speak French?”

“A little.” Alec replied, just as the doorbell rang. He gave them a quick, amused look, before turning on his heel and leaving, glass of champagne in hand. The moment he’d turned away, his smirk changed back to a neutral, _voire_ unpleasant expression. 

His mother caught his eye and nodded at the hall. Alec gave her an affirmative sign, before heading over to greet the newest arrival. 

 

One of the staff had already let her in, and Clary gave him a wide-eyed stare. 

“Oh, fuck me- I am so underdressed.” 

Alec gave her half a smile, before gesturing upstairs. “If you need it, we can steal one of my sister’s outfits.” 

“Really? Because I was way overdressed when I left home, and now it turns out you live in the 1800s, so.” 

Alec raised a brow, and she gave a shaky breath. 

“You’re intimidating. Your house looks like it’s from Vampire Academy or some dumb show Simon likes watching. Your entire assembly is horribly attractive and filthy rich. And I’m underdressed.” Clary hissed, half nervous and half despairing. 

Alec pushed her firmly upstairs. 

——- 

Although he had zero fashion sense to speak of, except perhaps a random knack for looking like an intimidating leather-clad vampire or a Starbucks-drinking hipster, Alec knew his way around clothes merely from watching Isabelle, and managed to find a rather flattering periwinkle dress that sat almost indecently on his sister but fitted Clary near perfectly. 

With her hair loose, her dress delicate and floating and her necklace shimmering, even her very noticeable hair colour didn’t manage to ruin the impression that Clary could belong in the Lightwood’s circles. 

“This is hands down one of the craziest things I’ve ever done.” Clary groaned as Alec surveyed her critically. 

At that, he gave her a very unimpressed look. 

Their stare-down didn’t last very long until Clary’s eyes widened and she winced. “Okay, right. Given your situation I probably shouldn’t have said that.” 

“No shit.” Alec sighed, making Clary give a surprised laugh. 

“In my defence, I barely know you, have never even seen any of these people outside of magazines, and they could each buy my entire family with no stress.” Alec paused to consider this, then gave her a somewhat sympathetic glance. 

“Just stick to me and remember that I’ve seen half of those people wasted.” 

“No kidding?” 

He didn’t respond as he opened the door and led her back downstairs. 

Almost all the guests had arrived, by the looks of it. The whole room was buzzing with conversation, low rumbles of laughter and high-pitched tittering intermingled with serious chatter and gasps (mostly surrounding Jace and Isabelle, of course). 

Although most of the people there were around Alec’s parents’ age, a number of them had brought their children with them (probably hoping to get them together with one of the Lightwoods), so there were quite a few people around Alec’s age. 

Clary gripped onto his arm uncertainly as they entered the room, as a number of people turned to watch them with more or less well-disguised interest. His father gave him a cool look from nearby, but it shifted to polite interest upon spotting Clary. 

“Alexander. Where have you been?” 

_You’ve been gone longer than you should, and by doing so ruined a few of the conversations I had planned for you to have_. 

“I was showing Clary around, father.” Alec said, with a tad of apology thrown in. 

“And who’s this Clary then?” Jace called from the sofa, making his little entourage giggle and his curvy date shoot him a syrupy smile. 

“Clary’s right here.” Clary snapped, making their part of the room fall silent in shock. 

Alec’s dates were usually pretty, influential, and just as quiet as he was. 

Clary only ticked off one of those boxes. 

Jace recovered quickly, pleased smirk falling in place as he observed her. “Indeed you are. I’ve never seen you around, ah..?” 

“Clary. Clary Fray.” Clary responded rather tartly, before issuing a: “We don’t really run in the same circles.” 

“What a pity.” Jace sighed, in that half-sincere half-mocking tone he used to make people uncomfortable. 

Clary’s fingers dug into Alec’s arm in discomforted annoyance. “Sure, yeah.” 

“Well, Clary, if you get bored by my brother’s fascinating conversational skills, do feel free to drop by.” Jace’s own rather rude dismissal disguised honest curiosity. Alec wasn’t surprised. 

Jace wasn’t used to people he didn’t know standing up to him. He’d be a nuisance all evening now.

“I doubt it,” Clary bit out, giving him a glare that surprised Alec. “Talking to Alec doesn’t make me want to jump off the nearest bridge.” 

From across the room, Isabelle snorted. 

Jace’s expression flickered, before turning into a rather hostile smirk, but Clary had already spun them both around and away from the cluster. 

 

Alec led her to the buffet, before ducking down with an easy smile to hiss: “What was that about?” into her ear. 

“Sorry, sorry!” Clary replied, trying to keep her expression pleasant. “He’s just such a dick!” 

“Yes…?” Alec prodded. Which translated to “duh”. “He wasn’t even at his worst.” 

“It’s stupid.” Clary admitted, taking a bite out of a feuilleté. “I just- I saw him, and I was like, wow, but then he opened his mouth and he was an arrogant, pretentious dick.” 

“So you’re disappointed because he’s hot but also a dick.” 

“Yes! He was so- and he was just randomly mean to you, like he didn’t even realise it…” 

“He doesn’t. He’s teasing.” 

“It’s not funny to you.” 

“He doesn’t know that.” 

Clary sighed, giving him a serious look. “Sorry. I’m biased because I heard your story and now I feel compelled to hate him.” 

“That’s really not what I was trying to achieve.” Alec said, which was true. 

Clary made a frustrated noise, before swallowing the rest of the feuilleté. “I know. I was upset because I forgot he was hot and I was deceived for like ten seconds by his angelic appearance.” 

“Aren’t we all.” Alec sighed, as Clary gave an uncomfortable glance at the rest of the room. 

“I should have listened to Simon. He told me this would happen.” Clary huffed, with a tired sigh that Alec took to mean “why am i surrounded by the most spoilt and rich people on earth”. 

“Simon told you that you’d be distracted by Jace’s angelic appearance?” Alec dead-panned, raising a brow.

Clary laughed at that, the crease between her brows disappearing. 

“Well, maybe not that, exactly-” She paused. “Actually.” 

For a moment, both of them just gave each other a look, with raised brows and a judgemental silence. 

“Simon’s not all that straight, is he?” Alec asked, after a beat. 

“Oh, my god.” Clary snickered, hiding her mouth behind her hand. Alec just shook his head as she started laughing increasingly hard. 

“You know, I think you caused his apparent sexuality crisis.” Clary managed, between gulps of air. 

Alec looked down, blinking at her. “…I what.” 

“No, but, listen-“ Clary giggled, shaking herself out of it. “Like, I remember when he’d just met you-” 

 

As someone always did the moment Alec was interested in something, his mother chose that exact moment to clap her hands and silence the room. “Dinner is served.” 

Clary’s smile faded, turning to a vaguely worried expression. “Do I have to bow when I enter the room?” 

Alec offered her his arm, leaning down to whisper: “You curtsey to every member of the family in order of age, and put your hand behind your back if it’s for a woman.” 

Clary’s head whipped up in alarm before she hit him rather hard on the arm. “You- I was about to freak out, you prick!” 

Alec smirked swiftly before following the crowd into the room. 

The two large dinner tables had been impeccably decorated- the large chandelier cast a shimmering golden glow over the room, the glasses and silverware glistened, and the plates were laid out neatly amidst the minimalistic decorations. Clary’s eyes were wide, her eyebrows raised, as Alec guided her to her chair and gave her an apologetic look. She registered the betrayal a moment too late; Alec had escaped to find his seat. 

Sat between his father and his sister, Alec was a table to far for Clary to glare at him, but he couldn’t help but smile into his glass of wine. 

——- 

Dinner went as expected. 

Without Clary’s refreshing bewilderment and lack of mannerisms, Alec fell back to the old pattern. 

Someone made a comment, Isabelle made a casually mocking reply, Jace said something vaguely offensive in a way that made other people feel stupid, and Alec sat quietly, making the odd comment to repair his siblings’ damage. 

In a way, he was happy the evening went the way it went, because otherwise he might have lacked the resolve to go through with his plans. Instead, every jab Isabelle and Jace made at him and every time someone spoke over him fuelled the slow burn he could feel making its way up his system. 

Alec’d never been the most difficult to anger- in fact, he was quite easy to rile up, and as Jace had once said, “as prickly as a very passive aggressive cactus”. The only difference between his usual silent seething and today was, well. 

It wasn’t going to be silent for very long. 

 

The one moment that firmly convinced him that his family had had it coming for a while was also one that nearly resulted in Clary attacking his siblings. 

After dessert, the whole group was ushered back into the living room for coffee, before the Lightwoods would head out to the church for their little media performance. Alec found himself sitting next to Max, with his parents behind him and his siblings opposite him. 

Clary had barely sat down next to him with a glare that promised murderous revenge when one of the girls sitting between Isabelle and Jace spoke up. 

“So, Alec, I hear you’re studying law?” 

Alec gave her a sharp look. 

If memory served, her name was Aimée and her parents owned quite a few shares in Hong Kong. 

“That’s right.” 

“I’m thinking of going into it myself,” probably-Aimée said with a toothy grin. “I was wondering if you could give me a few pointers.” 

Alec was about to answer, distracted by her heavily made up eyes- the golden kohl around her slanted eyes reminded him very strongly of someone rather different- when Max piped up instead, with a very grownup voice: “Alec can definitely tell you everything- he’s really smart.” 

The group laughed, before Isabelle added: “Alec barely does anything but work, so that’s hardly surprising.” 

“Well, not quite.” Jace continued, amused. “Once in a while he also comes to check if he can come rearrange the entire filing cabinet.” 

“Or shine the shoes.” 

“No, he’d find someone to glower at to do that for him.” 

“Does Alec know enough people to do that?” Alec’s eye twitched. 

Clary made a worrying hissing noise, like a kettle about to bubble over.

Aimée laughed, casting Alec a slightly uncertain glance, to which he gave her a very fake “siblings, am i right” smile. 

Reassured, she interrupted the other two with an amused: “What about his girlfriend? She certainly seems interested.” 

Isabelle tossed her hair back with a patronising smile. “Clary’s not his girlfriend.” 

Aimée’s eyes took on a glint that Alec recognised all too well as she turned to him with a questioning tilt of the head. 

“I’m just here to stand in for Alec’s real date.” Clary said, with a rather unfriendly look in their general direction. 

“We still don’t know who that is.” Max added, breaking out of his silent observing to give Alec a pleading look. 

“Soon.” Alec promised, taking the opportunity to pull his phone out and check his messages. 

Magnus had sent him about fifty of them during the dinner, all of which he refused to read in the company of his little brother. One of the most recent, however, indicated that he would be arriving in ten minutes. 

Alec blanched. 

“Ah, yes, the mystery date.” Isabelle drawled, looking extremely bored. 

“Won’t be a mystery much longer.” Alec muttered, to which Max perked up and Clary’s attention snapped back to him from where she’d been scowling at Jace. 

“Mystery date?” Jace’s date questioned, her pouty lips and long lashes not disguising her interest. 

From behind him, Alec could feel his parent’s eyes on him. 

“Don’t worry, Aimée,” Isabelle interjected cuttingly before Alec had to say anything, “We all know she’ll be a straight-As medical student that blushes when you say the word sex.” 

Jace snorted. 

Clary let out a dismissive noise, giving Alec a look full of understanding. 

“Right,” Alec retorted, unable to keep the acidity from his voice, “Because I’m sure Troye here breaks the pattern of the previous troubled assholes with daddy issues you’ve brought in so far.” 

Troye made a vaguely offended noise, as Isabelle’s lip curled upwards. Max cast Jace a worried look. 

It was too late. 

“I don’t think you’re one to talk about assholes with daddy issues, Alec.” Isabelle spat out, before dropping the killer line: “At least Troye’s not a _closeted_ , self-centred one.” 

Alec felt like he’d been slapped.

Clary went: “You bit-” 

Max pleaded: “Izzy, please, it’s Christmas-” 

Jace looked between the two of them, clearly understanding that there was more than the usual bickering at stake, before saying firmly: “Isabelle, hey, cut it out.” 

Closeted. _Closeted._ It wasn’t difficult to figure out why Isabelle had chosen that particular word. And self-centred? Oh, Alec was sure Isabelle thought he was self-centred, because he’d just blown up at her out of the blue, and refused to resolve the fight, and was distancing himself from her, and because he kept targeting her weak spots (oh, the horror) when they fought.

He understood perfectly, from Izzy’s point of view, why she was angry and confused and hurtful. 

But he wasn’t Isabelle. 

He remained frozen as the others clamoured. 

He wasn’t Isabelle, and he wasn’t Jace, and he was done excusing them. 

He got why they acted like assholes, but that didn’t stop them from being assholes. 

And if Alec didn’t tell them, they’d never know. 

And if Alec didn’t make them understand how serious he was about this, they’d never listen. 

 

His parents stood up to get their coats. Alec didn’t wait for Clary as he stood and followed them. 

——- 

It took them some time to prepare- some of the guests were leaving, and so had to be greeted and given promises of future meetings, and others were getting ready for the walk to the church, and everyone was preparing for the paparazzi swarming outside the gates. 

Clary came up to Alec cautiously as he slipped his coat on and stared down at his scarf absently. She didn’t say anything, which was good. 

Instead, she hesitated, before sighing and knotting the scarf for him. Alec grunted his thanks. 

His phone buzzed. 

“Are your parents like that too?” Clary asked, quietly. “Horrible but without knowing it?” 

Alec didn’t reply. He hoped she didn’t press the matter, because he wasn’t in the mood to explain his sob story at this point in time. 

He was raging, and it wasn’t at Clary that he was going to snap. 

“Alexander! You can spend time mooning over your date later.” Robert Lightwood called, as the group laughed. “We’re all waiting.” 

_Mooning over my date? Have you ever even seen Jace and his dates?_ Alec wanted to say, or perhaps even _Half of you aren’t even ready, shut up._

Instead he apologised and headed over to the door. 

He was angry. He was boiling over. 

For once, he wasn’t bothering to keep it in. 

Soon, Alec thought fervently. Soon. 

It was ironic, really. He’d snapped because he was tired of being a pushover, and because he’d snapped, the very things that had made him snap had worsened. 

Alec acting differently was making everyone ill at ease, and on the defensive- which, of course, meant that their carelessly hurtful comments turned rather more harsh. 

This one time, though, Alec was going to have the last word. 

He was done.

——- 

He checked his phone when he walked through the door. 

“At the gate ;)”. 

Alec’s pulse quickened. 

——— 

They were walking up the driveway, light laughter about the flashing camera lights outside coursing through the group, when Alec spotted the figure waiting by the gates. The group quietened, stilled, and Alec saw his two parents' eyes narrow in cautious suspicion. 

“Lovely evening, isn’t it?” Magnus called out, when they were close enough for the lights to make him visible. A gasp went through the crowd, and the cameras went into a frenzy. 

“I almost had trouble getting in, you know. I mean, the paparazzi cleared soon enough when they spotted me, but your security wasn’t quite as friendly.” Magnus said easily, hands in his pockets and eyes shimmering. He was dressed to the T as usual, with tall leather boots, a (Prussian blue, apparently) coat hugging his figure, and silver skinny jeans bringing out the sparkles around his eyes. 

“What are you doing here?” Robert Lightwood demanded, jaw set and eyes hard. One of the journalists looked like he was about to pass out.

“This is private property, Mr Bane.” Maryse went on, contemptuously. “You’re not allowed to waltz in here at your whim.” 

“Ah, but I’m a guest here.” Magnus replied with a sharp smile, careless arrogance practically radiating off him. “I’ve been invited.” 

Alec felt vaguely dizzy with anticipation, and wondered if this was actually happening. 

“A likely tale.” Robert sneered, before raising a doubtful brow. “And where would this date of yours be?” 

“Right about…there.” Magnus said, his eyes settling on Alec. For a moment, he simply looked at him as both the crowd and the press tried desperately to follow his gaze. And then he cracked a grin. “Hello, Alexander.” 

Complete silence fell for an instant, like the entire world had been switched on mute, as every single body in the general vicinity spun around to stare at Alec. 

“Hey.” Alec said, casually. 

Sound exploded from everywhere- the cameras were flashing so much it felt like a rave, and the journalists were beside themselves (one had definitely passed out this time), and people were shouting and gasping from all around Alec. For several beats, everything was a blur of confused sound and people trying desperately to understand what was going on, until Alec suddenly found himself at the front of the group, with his parents staring at him with incomprehension written all over their faces. 

“Alexander,” Robert said, coldly, even with the confusion clear in his expression, “What is the meaning of this?” 

Behind him, Maryse was pale, wide eyes surveying Alec like a stranger. 

Alec shrugged, blood pounding in his ears. “Told you my date would be late.” 

Over the screams of the press and the murmurs of the group, he focused on his father, whose emotions shifted rapidly until they settled on shocked anger. “Alexander, I don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve, but I don’t find it amusing.” 

“I’m not trying to be amusing.” Alec said, clearly and loudly in the sudden quiet. “Magnus and I have been dating for months.” 

“What?” It was Maryse’s turn to speak: “Alexander! What are you talking about?” 

“I’m _gay_. Extremely so.” Alec answered, forcing his voice not to shake as the killer silence fell again. 

The unanimous intake of breath, however, was fairly loud nonetheless. 

“Alec-” Maryse started, before giving him a fierce look. “Alexander, what are you _doing_?” 

“I’m gay,” Alec continued, “And I’m done with your shit.” 

If he’d thought the cameras couldn’t get anymore blinding, he was wrong. He shot Magnus a look, and his amused smile calmed his hysterical pulse for a second. 

“Alexander.” Robert snapped, regaining his self-control. “You’re acting like a ridiculous child. Stop it.” 

“No,” Alec interrupted, firmly, although his hands were shaking. “I’m not, father. I’m done with you treating me like an invisible being while still expecting me to perform miracles. I’m done with working my ass of to conform to your ridiculously high expectations, which, by the way, neither Jace or Isabelle has ever been asked to live up to.” 

He took a breath and pushed on, his earlier anger mixed with adrenalin that distracted him from his nerves and made him want to hurt someone. “I am done with always having to be perfect at everything without ever complaining, while Jace and Isabelle are off getting STDs. I’m fucking done with wasting my life trying to gain your attention and only ever receiving it when you feel I’ve disappointed you.” 

His mother took a step back as his father bristled: “Now, look here, Alexander, if you think you can start giving morals-“ 

“Shut up. Shut the fuck up, okay?” Alec hissed, drawing himself to his full height. “You don’t get to live in your perfect little life anymore- you’ve failed at raising children, because you’ve messed all three of us up, and you don’t get to stay the selfish dick you’ve always been, father, and act like no one knows about the fucking affair you had-” 

Gasps arose as Maryse blanched and Robert choked on his rage. 

Hearing Isabelle gasp, Alec whirled around, righteous fury blazing through him. “And as for you two, I get that you’re troubled, okay, everyone gets it, but that doesn’t mean you can act like I’m not even a human being, all right? I’m sick of your stupid fucking selfish little lives and you treating me like shit because you think I’m not on your level of troubled or whatever the hell.” 

“Alec-” Jace started, just as Isabelle gave him a wide eyed look. 

“Fuck off. Not a single one of you even realised anything was wrong until right now, and I think it’s pretty obvious that’s too goddamn late. You’re lousy excuses for siblings.” 

At that, Alec looked up at the crowd. “I hope you all enjoy living in your little pretentious of importance, because you’re all a group of disgusting hypocrites whose dirty little secrets I know. Go to hell.” 

This time, the silence was almost cowed. 

Alec exhaled, closing his eyes for a beat. 

When he opened them again, he directed his gaze towards Max, who was pale. He bent down to hand him the mixtape he’d made for him, ruffling his hair as he stood up. “Merry Christmas, Max. I’m sorry it went like this. You don’t deserve this family.” 

The crowd watched, stunned, as he straightened and gave his parents a last look, pulse still loud and rapid, his whole body trembling slightly. 

“Alexander-” his father gritted out, looking like he was about to hit him. 

“Merry Christmas.” Alec said, softly, with a twisted smile. Then, louder, throwing his arms in the air: “Merry fucking Christmas!” 

Someone made a sound that sounded vaguely like a sob. 

Alec didn’t quite know who it was. 

It had begun to snow. 

 

He turned to Magnus, and gave him a look- the other smirked, but followed him out of the gateway and into the street, as Alec pushed aside the still frozen journalists, forcing himself not to start running. 

The whole group of people suddenly resumed making noise, all vaguely hysterical, as Magnus unlocked his car and they climbed in.

Magnus took off at the speed of light, as the press all made a dash for their respective vehicles, torn between staying to interrogate the group or chasing after them. 

Alec watched them in the rearview mirror as the car raced down the streets, his whole body on fire and his head spinning. 

He couldn’t think straight- all he could focus on were the faint shapes of the cars coming after them as his thoughts whirled through his head. His hands were still shaking, and his heart was beating so loudly he thought Magnus had to be able to hear it. 

He’d done it. He’d actually done it. 

Alexander Lightwood had never done anything like this in his life. 

——— 

He didn’t quite know how much time had passed by the time he stopped feeling like he’d been drugged, but by some mysterious way that just proved that Magnus was secretly a wizard, they’d lost their little entourage. 

Alec made an incredulous sound, something between choking and laughing, which made Magnus look up from where he’d been thoughtfully looking at the road. “Back to the land of the living, are we?” 

In response, Alec gave a strangled laugh and ran a half through his hair. 

“Is this a nervous breakdown? Because I’ve been told I’m terrible with those.” Magnus said, amused, pulling the car to a halt. 

They were near the university. 

Alec snorted, turning slightly to look at him. “I’m not- I mean. I’m sure I will have one. Soon.” 

He huffed out a breath, flicking his eyes away before bringing them back to Magnus. “But I don’t feel-“

Worried. Scared. Anxious. Guilty. 

“I feel kind of fearless. Adrenalin, probably.” 

Magnus’s smirk grew, and his eyes shone with amusement as he contemplated Alec. “That was quite a speech you rattled off there.” 

“I wasn’t planning on talking that much.” Alec admitted, tilting his head back against the headrest. “It sort of came out.” 

And then, as an afterthought: “I hope you weren’t planning on saying anything.” 

Magnus rolled his eyes. “Oh, no, I’m quite all right.” His smile broadened as he looked at him. “Your speech was sufficient. And what a glorious speech it was!” 

Alec laughed faintly, tone betraying the disbelief in his voice. “I can’t believe I did that.” 

“To be quite honest, a week ago I wouldn’t have believed it either.” Magnus retorted, opening his door. “Shall we?” 

Alec climbed out, joining Magnus on the sidewalk. 

 

It was snowing heavily, now, coating their clothes and hair with snowflakes and covering the ground in bright white. 

Faint voices were floating around the campus, full of laughter and festive spirit. 

“Well, then.” said Magnus, his eyes on the building in front of them. “Our deal is complete.” 

Alec blinked. The other shifted to give him a smile and a vaguely entertained look. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?” 

“No,” Alec mumbled, looking at him, his previous elation fading to a steady buzz. “I haven’t.” 

The Christmas lights from the campus were reflecting on Magnus, multicoloured lights shining on him through the snow. His cheeks were pink from the cold. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr Lightwood.” Magnus said, with a mocking bow and a crooked smile. 

Alec didn’t answer. 

The snow was turning Magnus’ eyelashes white, and his hair was coated with snowflakes. Alec wondered distantly if this was what Felix Felicis did to you- this all-consuming feeling that whatever you did would go well. 

It’d wear off, of course, just like the potion, but… 

“It has.” Alec said, seriously, before taking a deep breath of crisp winter air. 

“Magnus.” 

Magnus’s easy smile faded to a more cryptic expression, his brow creasing lightly, almost with caution. “Yes?” 

Alec tilted his head, trying to express the rather uncharacteristic feelings he was experiencing, before biting his lip. 

God, he felt so…young, and stupid, and reckless. Not Alec’s style at all. 

He didn’t quite know what he was doing, or saying, or feeling, but he knew what he wanted. 

“Magnus.” Alec tried again, taking a step forwards. 

Magnus’ eyebrows raised, his eyes shimmering with piqued interest. “Alexander.” 

“I’m not good at this sort of thing.” Alec said, blunt as he had been and still was. He took another step forwards. “And I’m not like Jace or Isabelle.” 

There was almost a certain challenge in his voice- his chin lifted slightly. 

“Indeed.” Magnus acknowledged, rocking slowly on his heels. “You’re quite full of surprises.” 

Alec’s heart was beating almost painfully fast as he advanced once more, his excitement fading to a more serious- more Alec- self-awareness. 

“People already think we’re dating.” Alec said, voice unwavering, conscious of the firm set of his jaw. 

“They do.” Magnus responded, and his eyes were definitely sparkling now, and it was snowing and it was Christmas and there were bright lights and people laughing and Alec felt bizarrely confident and he wanted to- 

“Your cat likes me.” Alec Lightwood said, and before he could overthink it or let Magnus answer, he took a final step forward, and kissed him.

 

Magnus actually made a surprised noise, which made Alec feel weirdly proud, before his hands slid down to Alec’s waist and pulled him closer. Almost automatically, Alec’s own arms went to loop around Magnus’ neck- for once someone was taller than him, even slightly… 

Alec hadn’t had much experience of the romantic kind- his range of actual kisses was pretty limited to a few regrettable decisions, most of which he blamed on Jace. And alcohol. But mostly Jace.

Still, he wasn’t completely terrible at it, and Magnus, well- Magnus obviously knew what he was doing. Alec wasn’t one for eloquent speeches, but his fingers gripping on to Magnus, the snow falling on them, the bells starting to ring, and the heated, open mouthed kiss- it felt good, and it felt right, and a hundred other things that Alec would never say aloud, and Magnus’ lips were soft where Alec’s were chapped (lipbalm, probably, he thought distantly), and his knee were about to go out if Magnus didn’t stop doing that, and- 

They pulled apart, and Alec gave a breath that came out in a cloud, snow falling so heavily now that he got some in his mouth just from having it open. He felt a bit dizzy, actually, his knees were weak, and he was still loosely hanging on to Magnus, and the bells were still ringing, and his lips were tingling and his insides were on fire. 

He let go. 

Magnus was looking at him strangely, his cheeks flushed and his lips red and his hair ruffled a bit, with the snow all over him and the lights illuminating him. Alec’s stomach flipped. 

His pupils were a bit blown, Alec noticed- and people started shouting and whooping at the campus- festive cheers, even some carolling. 

It was Christmas, and he’d just kissed Magnus Bane. 

Magnus quirked a brow, expectantly. 

“Merry Christmas.” Alec said. 

There was a pause. 

Magnus gave him a wide-eyed stare, opening and shutting his mouth slowly. 

And then, suddenly, he started laughing, increasingly loudly, startling both Alec and himself, shoulders shaking as he did so. 

And he continued laughing helplessly, almost folding over, as Alec gave a little sigh of relief. 

Alec looked up at the snow, which coated his eyelashes and his hair, and at the Christmas lights, and listened to the distant cheers and to Magnus laughing, and felt his own lips twitch. 

He was smiling when Magnus took a gulp of air and regained his composure, eyes glittering and almost grinning. “Merry Christmas, Alexander. Merry Christmas indeed.” 

For good measure, Alec kissed him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a few comments:  
> -someone told me my alec was really ooc, to which i would like to respond: 1) not that ooc 2) this is a completely different universe, in which there are no demons and deaths (kinda), so all the characters are a bit less grim 3) this alec is older, and has expanded his friendship circle outside of his house, so he's a bit more socially adept and a bit less uptight 4) dude...  
> -im sure a lot of you have read "kissed" and remarked the differences, but again: magnus is less immortal and all-knowing, alec is less socially inept, and it's under different circumstances  
> -i don't actually hate jace or izzy, so if this feels like bashing i do apologise- alec has a lot of grievances and that is all (reconciliation is in the future)  
> -i can't believe all the support this fic has gotten, tysm
> 
> please comment/ talk to me on quidfree.tumblr.com, because i really love hearing from you lot- if enough people want it, id be happy to continue this series ;)


	7. author's note

this is not a new chapter, but a warning that there's a second instalment of this fic, to be found in the series it's linked to! 

http://archiveofourown.org/works/8568148/chapters/19642615

ty so much for all the comments, i love y'all

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews and kudos kindle the fire!  
> Questions at quidfree.tumblr.com will ensure my eternal thanks.


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